THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


G 


if  iiiiuraviu 


T/JFE  AND   PUBLIC   SERVICES 


OF 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


LINCOLN, 
His  Life  and  Times. 

BEING  THE 

LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SEEYICES 

OP 

ABRAHAM    LINCOLN, 

SIXTEENTH  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  fclTATES. 

TOGETHER  'WITH 

HIS  STATE  PAPERS, 

INCLUDING 

HIS  SPEECHES,  ADDEESSES,  MESSAGES,  LETTEKS, 
AND  PROCLAMATIONS, 

'AND 

THE  CLOSING  SCENES  CONNECTED  WITH  HIS  LIFE  AND  DEATH. 

BY 

HENEY  J.  EAYMOND. 
•» 

TO  WHICH  ABE  ADDED 

4NECB0TES  AND  PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN, 

By  FRANX  B,  CARPENTER. 


VOLUME  L 


CHICAGO  : 

THOMPSON    &    THOMAS, 

PUBLISHERS, 


>       / 


h 


GIFT 


tVS7 


PREFACE. 


During  the  Presidential  canvass  of  1864,  the  author 
of  this  work  prepared  for  its  pubhsners  a  volume  upon 
the  Administration  of  President  Lincoln.  Its  main  object 
was  to  afford  the  American  people  the  materials  for  form- 
ing an  intelligent  judgment  as  to  the  wisdom  of  continu- 
ing Mr.  Lincoln,  for  four  years  more,  in  the  Presidential 
office. 

That  canvass  resulted  in  his  re-election.  But  he  bad 
scarcely  entered  upon  the  duties  and  responsibilities 
of  his  second  term,  when  his  career  was  closed  by 
assassination.  He  had  lived  long  enough,  however, 
to  finish  the  great  work  which  had  devolved  upon  him. 
Before  his  eyes  were  closed,  they  beheld  the  overthrow 
of  the  rebellion,  the  extirpation  of  slavery,  and  the  res- 
toration, over  all  the  land,  of  the  authority  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  , 

Not  the  people  of  his  own  country  alone,  but  aU 
the  world,  will  study  with  interest  the  life  and  public 
acts  of  one  whose  work  was  at  once  so  great  and  so 
successful.  The  principles  which  guided  his  conduct, 
and  the  policy  by  which  he  sought  to  carry  them  out — 
the  temper  and  character  which  were  the  secret  sources 
of  his  strength — will  be  sought  and  found  in  the  acts 
and  words  of  his  public  life.     For  more  truly,  perhaps, 


M808338 


6  Preface. 

than  any  other  man  of  his  own  or  of  any  other  time, 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  bnt  one  character  and  one  mode  of 
action,  in  public  and  private  affairs. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  work,  so  far  as  possible, 
to  facilitate  this  inquiry.  Every  public  speech,  message, 
letter,  or  document  of  any  sort  from  his  pen,  so  far  as 
accessible,  will  be  found  included  in  its  pages.  These 
documents,  with  the  narrative  by  which  they  are  accom  J 
panied,  may,  it  is  hoped,  aid  the  public  in  understanding 
aright  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  most  illustrious 
actor,  in  the  most  important  era,  of  American  history. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  L 


Early  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln. — His  Own  Record. — His  Ancestry. — Changes 
of  Residence. — Death  and  Funeral  of  his  Mother. — Entrance  upon  Polit- 
ical Life. — A  Member  of  the  Legislature  and  of  Congress. — The  Mexican 
War Page  H 

CHAPTER  IL 

THE  LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  DEBATE. 

Presidential  Campaign  of  1856. — Douglas  at  Springfield  in  1857. — Lincoln's 
Reply. — The  Great  Debate. — Eloquent  Defence  of  the  Doctrines  of  the 
Republican  Party. — Result  of  the  Contest Page  46 

CHAPTER  IIL 

MR.  LINCOLN  AND  THE  PRESIDENCY. 

The  Campaign  of  1859  in  Ohio. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Speeches  at  Columbus  and 
Cincinnati. — His  Visit  to  the  East. — In  New  York  City. — The  Great 
Speech  at  Cooper  Institute. — Mr.  Lincoln  nominated  for  the  Presidency. 
—His  Election Page  78 

\  CHAPTER  TV. 

[/ROM   THE  ELECTION,    NOVEMBER    6,    1860,    TO  THE  INAUGURATION,    MARCH  4, 

1861. 

The  Presidential  Election. — Secession  of  South  Carolina. — Formation  of  the 
Rebel  Confederacy. — The  Objects  of  Secession. — Secession  Movements  in 
"Washington. — Debates  in  Congress. — The  Crittenden  Resolutions. — Con- 
ciliatory Action  of  Congress. — The  Peace  Conference. — Action  of  Con- 
gress.— The  Secession  Movement  unchecked Page  101 

CHAPTER  V. 

PROM   SPRINGFIELD  TO  WASHINGTON. 

Speech  at  Indianapolis. — Arrival  and  Speech  at  Cincinnati — Speech  at  Co- 
lumbus — Speech  at  Pittsburg. — Arrival  and  Speech  at  Cleveland. — Arri- 
val .  at  Buffalo. — At  Rochester  ana  Syracuse. — At  Albany.  -Speech  at 


10  Contents. 

Poughkeepsie. — In  New  York. — Reply  to  the  Mayoi  of  New  York. — la 
New  Jersey. — Arrival  at  Philadelphia. — Speech  in  Philadelphia. — At 
Harrisburg. — Arrival  and  Reception  at  Washington Page  131 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FROM  THE  INAUGURATION  TO   THE   MEETING  OF  CONGRESS,  JULY  4,  1861. 


the  Inaugural  Address. — Organization  of  the  Government. — The  Bombard- 
ment of  Fort  Sumter. — Passage  of  Troops  through  Baltimore. — Interview 
with  the  Mayor  of  Baltimore.— The  Blockade  of  Rebel  Ports.— The  Pres- 
ident and  the  Virginia  Commissioners. — Instruction  to  our  Ministers 
abroad. — Recognition  of  the  Rebels  as  Belligorents. — Rights  of  Neu- 
trals   Page  161 


CHAPTER  VIL 

fHE  EXTRA  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS,  AND  THE  MILITARY  EVENTS  OF  THE  SUMMER 

OF  1861. 

First  Annual  Message. — Action  of  Congress. — Slavery  and  Confiscation. — The 
Defeat  at  Bull  Run. — Treatment  of  the  Slavery  Question. — General  Fre- 
mont and  the  President. — The  Trent  Affair Page  186 


CHAPTER   VIIL 

IBB  REGULAR  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS,    DECEMBER,    1861.— THE   MESSAGE. — 
DEBATES,    ETC. 

Meeting  of  Congress. — President's  Message. — Disposition  of  Congress. — 
Slavery  in  Territories  aud  District  of  Columbia. — Proposed  Aid  to  Eman- 
cipation by  Slave  States. — The  Debate  in  Congress. — The  President  and 
General  Hunter. — The  Border  State  Representatives. — The  Border  State  [ 
Reply. — The  Finances. — Tho  Confiscation  Bill. — The  President's  Action  I 
and  Opinions. — The  President's  Message. — Message  in  Regard  to  Mr. 
Cameron. — The  President  and  his  Cabinet. — Close  of  the  Session  of  Con- 
gress.— The  President's  Letter  to  Mr.  Greeley. — The  President  and  the 
Chicago  Convention. — Proclamation  of  Emancipation Page  213 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATION  OF   1862. — THE  PRESDDENT  aND  GENERAL 
M'CLELLAN. 

General  McClellan  succeeds  McDowell. — The  President's  Order  for  an  Ad- 
vance.— The  Movement  to  the  Peninsula. — Rebel  Evacuation  of  Manas- 
sas.— Arrangements  for  the  Peninsular  Movement. — The  President's 
Letter  to  General  McClellan.— The  Rebel  Strength  at  Yorktown  —The 


Contents.  11 

Battlo  of  Williamsburg. — McClellan's  Fear  of  being  Overwhelmed. — The 
President  to  McClellan. — Jaoksoa'B  Raid  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley. — The 
President  to  McClellan. — Seven  Pines  and  Fair  Oaks. — McClellan's  Com- 
plaints of  McDowell. — His  Continued  Delays. — Prepares  for  Defeat. — 
Calls  for  more  Men. — His  Advice  to  the  President. — Preparations  to  Con- 
centrate the  Army. — General  Halleck  to  McClellan. — Appointment  of 
General  Pope. — Imperative  Orders  to  McClellan. — McClellan's  Failure  10 
aid  Pope. — His  Excuses  for  Delay. — Proposes  to  Leave  Pope  Unaided. 
— Excuses  for  Franklin's  Delay. — His  Excuses  proved  Groundless. — His 
alleged  Lack  of  Supplies. — Advance  into  Maryland. — The  President's 
Letter  to  McClellan. — He  Protests  against  Delay. — McClellan  Relieved 
from  Command. — Speech  by  the  President Page  263 


CHAPTER  X. 

GENERAL  CONDUCT  OP  THE   ADMINISTRATION   IN    1862. 

Successes  in  the  Southwest. — Recognized  Objects  of  the  War. — Relations  of 
the  War  to  Slavery. — Our  Foreign  Relations. — Proposed  Mediation  of  the 
French  Emperor. — Reply  to  the  French  Proposal. — Secretary  Seward's 
Dispatch. — The  President's  Letter  to  Fernando  Wood. — Observance  of 
the  Sabbath Page  326 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  CONGRESSIONAL  SESSION  OP   1862-'63. — MESSAGE   OP   THE  PRESIDENT 
AND   GENERAL   ACTION   OF   THE  SESSION. 

The  President's  Message. — Are  the  Rebel  States  Aliens  ? — The  Provision  for 
a  Draft. — Message  oa  the  Finances  and  Currency. — Admission  of  West 
Virginia. — Close  of  the  Session Page  3  >  • 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ARBITRARY   ARRESTS. — THE   SUSPENSION  OP   THE  WRIT  OF  HABEAS  0ORPU8L 
— THE  DRAFT. 

Lrbitrary  Arrests. — First  Suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus. — Aid  and  Com- 
fort to  the  Rebels. — Executive  Order  about  Arrests. — Appointment  of  a 
Commissioner  on  Arrests. — Opposition  to  the  Government. — The  Case  of 
Vallandigham. — Governor  Seymour  on  Vallandigham. — President  Lin- 
coln on  Arrests. — President  Lincoln  on  Military  Arrests. — The  Presi- 
dent's Letter  to  Mr.  Coming. — The  President  to  the  Ohio  Committee. — 
The  President  on  Vailandigham's  Cage. — The  Habeas  Corpus  Suspended. 
—Proclamation  Concerning  Aliens. — The  Draft  -The  New  York  Riots. — 
Letter  to  Governor  Seymour. — The  Draft  Resumed  and  Completed.   Paga  373 


12  Contents. 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

MILITARY  STENTS  OF   1863. — TITB   REBEL  DEFEAT   AT  GETTYSBURG. — FALL 
OF  VICKSBURO  AND   PORT  HUDSON. 

The  Battles  at  Fredericksburg. — Rebel  Raid  into  Pennsylvania. — Results  at 
Gettysburg. — Yicksburg  and  Port  Hudson  Captured. — Public  Rejoicings. 
—The  President's  Speech. — Thanksgiving  for  Victories. — Battle  of  Chat- 

[    tanooga. — Thanksgiving  Proclamation Page  40? 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

POLITICAL  MOVEMENTS  IN  MISSOURI. — THE  STATE  ELECTIONS  OF  1863. 

General  Fremont  in  Missouri. — The  President's  Letter  to  General  Hunter. — 
Emancipation  in  Missouri. — Appointment  of  General  Schofieid. — The 
President  and  the  Missouri  Radicals. — The  President  to  the  Missouri 
Committee. — The  President  and  General  Schofieid. — Tho  President  and 
the  Churches.— Letter  to  Illinois.— The  Elections  of  1863 Page  422 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  CONGRESS  OF   1863-'64. — MESSAGE  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. — ACTION  OF 
THE  SESSION.     -PROGRESS  IN  RAISING  TROOPS. 

The  President's  Message. — Tne  Proclamation  of  Amnesty. — Explanatory 
Proclamation. — Debate  on  Slavery. — Call  for  Troops. — General  Blair's 
Resignation. — Diplomatic  Correspondence. — Our  Relations  with  England. 
— France  and  Mexico. — The  President  and  the  Monroe  Doctrine. . .  Page  44S 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

MOVEMENTS  TOWARDS  RECONSTRUCTION. 

IHate  Governments  in  Louisiana  and  Arkansas. — Different  of  Views  be- 
tween the  President  and  Congress. — The  Rebellion  and  Labor. — The 
Presideit  on  Benevolent  Associations. — Advancing  Action  concerning 
the  Negro  Race.— Free  State  Constitutions Page  481 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

MILITARY    EVENTS   OF  THE  SPRING   AND  SUMMER  OF   1864. 

Battle  of  the  Oiustee.— Kilpatrick's  Raid  on  Richmond.— The  Red  River 
Expedition. — The  Fort  Pillow  Massacre. — Rebel  Atrocities. — General 
Grant's  Advance  upon  Richmond. — Battles  in  May. — Sherman's  March  to 
Atlanta. — Rebel  Raids  in  Maryland  and  Kentucky. — Siege  of  Petersburg. 
— Martial  Law  iu  Kentucky. — Draft  for  Five  hundred  thousand  Men. — 
Capture  oi  Mobile  and  Atlanta Page  513 


Contents.  13 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE   POLITICAL  CAMPAIGN   Of    1864. 

Tho  Presidential  Election. — The  Cleveland  Convention. — The  Convention  at 
Baltimore. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Renomination  and  Acceptance. — Pupular  Feel- 
ing During  the  Summer. — The  Arguelles  Case. — The  Forged  Proclama- 
tion.— The  Niagara  Falls  Coafereuce. — The  Chicago  Convention. — Progress 
and  Result  of  the  Campaign. — Popular  Joy  at  the  Result Page  541 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE  MEETING   OP   CONGRESS  AND   PROGRESS  OF  THE   WAR, 

Condition  of  the  Country  at  the  Mooting  of  Congress. — The  Message. — Pro- 
ceedings in  Congress. — Fort  Fisher. — Death  of  Edward  Everett. — Peace 
Conference  in  Hampton  Roads. — Military  Affairs Pago  620 

CHAPTER  XX 

CLOSE   OP  THE   REBELLION. 

TLe  Inaugural  Address. — Proclamation  to  Deserters. — Speeches  by  the  Pres- 
ident.— Destruction  of  Lee's  Army. — Tho  President's  Visit  to  Richmond. 
— Return  to  Washington. — Close  of  the  War Page  669 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  ASSASSINATION. 

The  Condition  of  the  Country. — Assassination  of  the  President. — Murderous 
Assault  upon  Secretary  Seward. — The  Funeral  Procession  from  Washing- 
ton to  Springfield,  Illinois. — Fate  of  the  Assassins. — Estimate  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  Character. — Conclusion Pajre  691 


ANECDOTES  AND    REMINISCENCES  OF  PRESIDENT 

LINCOLN. 

rA«a 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Sadness 126 

His  Favorite  Poem 728 

His  Religious  Experience 730 

His  Sympathy 735 

His  Humor,  Shrewdness,  and  Sentiment 743 

The  Emancipation  Proclamation 759 


14  Contents. 


APPENDIX. 

LETTERS  ON   SUNDRY  OCCASIONS 

»A«« 

To  Mr.  Hodges,  of  Kentucky 767 

To  General  Hooker 768 

To  JohnB.  Fry 770 

l'o  Governor  Magoffin 770 

i'o  Count  Gasparin 771 

The  President  and  General  MoClellan 772 

Warnings  against  Assassination - 779 


REPORTS,  DISPATCHES,  AND   PROCLAMATIONS  RE1  ATING  TO 
THE  ASSASSINATION. 

Secretary  Stanton  to  General  Dix 7S3 

The  Death-Bed 785 

The  Assassins 786 

Re  ward  Offered  by  Secretary  Stanton 787 

Flight  of  the  Assassins 787 

The  Conspiracy  Organized  in  Canada 787 

Booth  Killod.— Harold  Captured 788 

Reward  Offered  by  President  Johnson ...  788 

The  Funeral ,  78S 


OFFICIAL  ANNOUNCEMENTS, 

Acting  Secretary  Hunter  to  Minister  Adams , . . .  7S9 

Acting  Secretary  Hunter  to  his  Subordinates 78» 

Orders  from  Secretary  Stanton  and  General  Grant 7a9 

Orders  from  Secretary  Welles 790 

der  from  Secretary  McCulloch 791 

der  from  Postmaster-General  Dennison 791 

Proclamation  by  President  Johnson  of  a  Day  of  Humiliation  and  Mourning.  791 

Secretary  Stanton  to  Minister  Adams 792 


Important  Letter  from  J.  Wilkes  Booth 793 

Indictment  of  tub  Conspirators 796 

The  Finding  of  the  Court 799 


Trot  Mowing  memorandum  given  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  Hicks,  the  "well- 
known  artist,  while  he  was  painting  his  portrait  in  Springfield,  Illinois, 
soon  after  his  first  nomination  for  the  Presidency,  is  not  without  in- 
terest : — 

"  I  was  born  February  12,  1809,  in  then  Hardin  County,  Kentucky, 
at  a  point  within  the  now  County  of  Larue,  a  mile  or  a  mile  and  a  half 
from  where  Hodgen's  mill  now  is.  My  parents  being  dead,  and  my  own 
memory  not  serving,  I  know  no  means  of  identifying  the  precise  locality. 
It  was  on  Nolen  Creek.  A.  Lincolh." 

Jum  14,  lMQi 


the  life,/..  ; ;: . 

PUBLIC  SERVICES   AND  STATE  PAPERS 

OP 

ABEAHAM     LINCOLN 


CHAPTER  I. 

Early  Life  op  Abraham  Lincoln. — Hie  Own  Reoobd. — His  Ancestry. — 
Changes  op  Residence. — Death  and  Funeral  op  his  Mother. — En- 
trance upon  Political  Life. — A  Member  op  the  Legislature  and 
op  Congress. — The  Mexican  War. 

The  compiler  of  the  "Dictionary  of  Congress' *  states, 
that  while  preparing  that  work  for  publication,  in  1858,  he 
sent  to  Mr.  Lincoln  the  usual  request  for  a  sketch  of  his 
life,  and  received  the  following  reply  : 

44  Born,  February  12,  1809,  in  Hardin  County,  Kentucky. 
"Education  defective. 
44  Profession,  a  Lawyer. 

44  Have  been  a  Captain  op  Volunteers  in  Blaok  Hawk  Was. 
44  Postmaster  at  a  very  small  Cffiob. 

44  Four  times  a  Member  op  the  Illinois  Legislature,  and  was  Ai 
Member  op  thb  Lower  House  op  Congress.  f 

44  Yours,  &o.,  j 

44  A.  Lincoln.  " 

Around  the  facts  stated  with  such  characteristic  mod- 
esty and  brevity  clusters  the  history  of  the  early  life  of 
our  late  President.  The  ancestors  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
were  of  English  descent ;  and  although  they  are  believed 
to  have  originally  emigrated  to  this  country  with  the 
followers  of  William  Penn,  it  is  difficult  to  trace  them 
I 


18  The  Life,  Public  Sbbvices,  and 

farther  ba&Jv  than.  tQ.tliei?  ^place  of  residence  in  Berks 
County,  Pennsylvania,*: A^htiiee  a  part  of  the  family  re- 
moved.;i^  17^0^  to Aj\i\t  gp<$L0ftvof  Virginia  now  known  as 
RocMnglia^"C6nilty.''fF>iIHA«\\ears  later,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, the  grandfather  of  our  late  President,  finding  civil- 
ization crowding  him  too  closely,  and  possibly  enticed 
by  the  stories  which  came  hack  to  the  frontier  settle- 
ments from  that  famous  pioneer,  Daniel  Boone,  but 
undeterred  by  the  dangers  which  he  knew  he  must  in- 
evitably encounter,  determined  to  make  another  bold 
push  westward,  and  settled  on  Floyd's  Creek,  in  Ken- 
tucky, in  what  is  now  known  as  Bullitt  County.  Hardly 
had  he  secured  a  home  for  his  little  family,  when  he  was 
fatally  shot  by  an  Indian,  who  came  upon  him  stealthily 
while  he  was  at  work,  some  distance  from  his  log  cabin. 
Thus  deprived  of  her  protector,  his  widow  at  once  re- 
moved, with  her  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  to  that 
part  of  Kentucky  now  known  as  Washington  County. 
Thomas,  the  eldest  of  the  sons,  the  father  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  was  but  six  years  old  when  his  mother  was  so 
suddenly  made  a  widow.  The  necessity  of  assisting  to 
provide  for  her  probably  delayed  his  own  settlement  in 
life,  for  it  was  not  until  he  was  twenty-eight  years  old, 
in  1806,  that  he  married  Nancy  Hanks.  His  wife  was  a 
Virginian  by  birth  ;  but  no  facts  regarding  either  her  an- 
cestry or  early  life  have  been  preserved,  although  it  is  a 
tradition,  possibly  originating  in  the  reputation  achieved 
by  her  son,  that  she  was  a  woman  of  rare  mental  endow- 
ment Immediately  after  their  marriage  the  couple  r<* 
moved  to  Hardin  County,  Kentucky,  and  there,  on  Feb 
ruarv  12th,  1809,  as  has  already  been  stated,  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  born.  His  early  life  was  spent  in  poverty 
and  toil ;  but  his  father,  feeling  keenly  his  own  deficien 
cies,  determined  to  give  his  son  every  possible  advantage 
in  the  way  of  gaining  an  education,  and,  when  but  seven 
years  old,  he  was  equipped  with  an  old  copy  of  Dil- 
worth's  Spelling  Book,  which  constituted  one-third  of 
the  family  library,  and  was  sent  to  school  to  a  Mr.  Hazel. 
It  is  also  said  that  one  Zachariak  Ittney,  a  Roman  Catholic, 


State  Papeks  oe  Abraham  Lincoln.  19 

having  some  connection  with  the  Trappists,  who  had 
founded  an  institution  on  Pottinger's  Creek,  with  Urban 
Gail  let  as  superior,  had  the  honor  of  instructing  the 
future  President  in  the  rudiments.  Whether  Mr.  Lin- 
coln favored  his  other  children,  one  a  girl  two  years 
older  than  Abraham,  and  the  other  a  boy  two  years  his 
junior,  to  the  same  extent,  is  doubtful,  for  the  routine  of 
school  life  was  not  only  broken  in  upon  by  his  frequent 
demands  upon  his  son's  time,  but  finally  it  was  inter 
t  upted  altogether  by  his  determination  to  abandon  Ken- 
tucky and  try  his  fortunes  where  his  energies  were  not 
checked  and  repressed  by  the  obstacles  which  slavery 
constantly  thrust  in  his  way.  In  1817  Mr.  Lincoln  car- 
ried this  plan  into  execution.  The  old  home  was  sold, 
their  small  stock  of  valuables  placed  upon  a  raft,  and  the 
little  family  took  their  way  to  a  new  home  in  the  wilds 
of  Indiana,  where  free  labor  would  have  no  competition 
with  slave  labor,  and  the  poor  white  man  might  hope 
that  in  time  his  children  could  take  an  honorable  posi- 
tion, won  by  industry  and  careful  economy.  The  place 
of  their  destination  was  Spencer  County,  Indiana.  For 
the  last  few  miles  they  were  obliged  to  cut  their  road  as 
they  went  on.  "  With  the  resolution  of  veteran  pioneers 
they  toiled,  sometimes  being  able  to  pick  their  way  for 
a  long  distance  without  chopping,  and  then  coming  to  a 
standstill  in  consequence  of  dense  forests.  Suffice  it  to 
say,  that  they  were  obliged  to  cut  a  road  so  much  of  the 
way  that  several  days  were  emplo3red  in  going  eighteen 
miles.  It  was  a  difficult,  wearisome,  trying  journey,  and 
\[r.  Lincoln  often  said,  that  he  never  passed  through  a 
uarder  experience  than  he  did  in  going  from  Thompson's 
Ferry  to  Spenser  County,  Indiana. " 

Thus,  before  he  was  eight  years  old,  Abraham  Lincoln 
began  the  serious  business  of  life.  The  cabin  in  which 
the  family  lived  was  built  of  logs,  and  even  the  aid  of 
such  a  mere  child  was  of  account  in  the  wilderness  where 
they  now  found  themselves,  after  seven  days  of  weary 
travel.  Their  neighbors,  none  of  whom  lived  nearer 
than  two  or  three  miles,  welcomed  the  strangers,  and 


20  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

lent  a  liand  towards  building  the  rude  dwelling  in  which 
the  future  President  lay  down,  after  fatiguing  "but  health 
fill  toil,  to  dream  the  dreams  of  childhood,  undisturbed 
by  thoughts  of  the  future. 

But  just  as  Abraham  was  becoming  accustomed  to  his 
new  residence,  his  home  was  made  desolate  by  the  death 
of  his  mother,  which  occurred  when  he  was  ten  years  old. 
She  died  long  before  she  could  have  imagined,  in  her 
wildest  dreams,  the  eminence  and  distinction  which  heT 
son  was  to  attain  ;  but  she  was  happy  in  the  knowledge 
that,  chiefly  under  her  own  tuition,  for  she  had  not  in-' 
trusted  his  education  entirely  to  the  schoolmaster  who 
chanced  to  settle  within  reach,  her  favorite  son  had 
learned  to  read  the  Bible — the  book  which,  as  a  Christian 
woman,  she  prized  above  all  others.  It  is  impossible  to 
estimata  the  influence  which  this  faithful  mother  ex- 
erted in  moulding  the  character  of  her  child  ;  but  it  is 
easy  to  believe  that  the  earnestness  with  which  she  im- 
pressed upon  his  mind  and  heart  the  holy  precepts,  did 
much  to  develop  those  characteristics  which  in  after 
years  caused  him  to  be  known  as  pre-eminently  the 
"Honest"  man.  There  is  touching  evidence  that  Abra- 
ham held  the  memory  of  his  mother  in  sacred  remem- 
brance. She  had  instructed  him  in  the  rudiments  of 
writing,  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  spite  of  the  disparaging 
remarks  of  his  neighbors,  who  regarded  the  accomplish- 
ment as  entirely  unnecessary,  encouraged  his  son  to  per- 
severe, until  he  was  able  to  put  his  thoughts  upon  paper 
in  a  style  which,  although  rude,  caused  him  to  be  regarded 
as  quite  a  prodigy  among  the  illiterate  neighbors.  One! 
of  the  very  first  efforts  of  his  faltering  pen  was  writing  ai 
letter  to  an  old  friend  of  his  mother's,  a  travelling 
preacher,  urging  him  to  come  and  deliver  a  sermon  over 
her  grave.  The  invitation  must  have  been  couched  in 
impressive,  if  not  affecting  language  ;  for,  although  the 
letter  was  not  written  until  nine  months  after  his  mother' 9 
remains  had  been  deposited  in  their  last  resting-place, 
Parson  Elkins,  the  preacher  to  whom  it  was  extended, 
respopded  to  the  request,  and  three  months  subsequent- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  21 

ly,  just  a  year  after  her  decease,  preached  a  sermon  com- 
memorative of  the  virtues  of  one  whom  her  neighbors 
still  held  in  affectionate  and  respectful  remembrance.  In 
his  discourse  it  is  said  that  the  Parson  alluded  to  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  received  the  invitation,  and  Abra- 
ham's pen  thereafter  found  frequent  employment,  in 
writing  letters  for  the  same  neighbors  who  had  before 
pretended  to  esteem  lightly  the  accomplishment  of  which 
they  at  last  recognized  the  value. 

About  two  years  after  the  death  of  Mrs.  Lincoln,  Mr. 
Lincoln  married  Mrs.  Sally  Johnston,  a  widow  with  three 
children.  She  proved  an  excellent  mother  to  her  step- 
son and  daughter,  and  a  faithful  wife.  During  the  twelve 
years  that  the  family  remained  in  Indiana,  Abraham's 
father  encouraged  him  to  improve  all  the  opportunities 
offered  for  mental  development.  How  scanty  these  privi- 
leges were,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  entire 
number  of  days  that  he  was  able  to  attend  school  hardly 
exceeded  one  year.  While  in  Indiana,  one  of  his  teachers 
was  a  Mr.  Dorsey,  who,  a  few  months  ago,  was  living  in 
Schuyler  County,  Illinois,  where  he  was  looked  up  to  with 
much  respect  by  his  neighbors,  as  one  of  those  who  had 
assisted  in  the  early  instruction  of  the  then  President  of 
the  United  States.  He  tells  with  great  satisfaction  how  his 
pupil,  who  was  then  remarked  for  the  diligence  and  eager- 
ness with  which  he  pursued  his  studies,  came  to  the 
>g-cabin  school-house  arrayed  in  buckskin  clothes,  a  rac- 
oon-skin cap,  and  provided  with  an  old  arithmetic  which 
had  somewhere  been  found  for  him  to  begin  his  investiga- 
tions into  the  "  higher  branches."  In  connection  with  his 
attendance  upon  Mr.  Crawford's  school,  an  incident  is 
told  which  is  sure  to  find  a  place  in  every  biography  of 
our  late  President.  Books  were,  of  course,  very  hard  to 
find  in  the  sparsely  settled  district  of  Indiana  where  the 
Lincoln  family  had  their  home,  and  every  printed  volume 
upon  which  Abraham  could  lay  his  hands  was  carefully 
guarded  and  eagerly  devoured.  Among  the  volumes  in 
Mr.  Crawford's  scanty  library  was  a  copy  of  Ramsay' b 
Life  pf  W&slungton,  wUoh  Abraham  secured  penmuiion* 


22  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

upon -one  occasion,  to  take  home  with  him.  During  a 
severe  storm  he  improved  his  leisure  by  reading  his  book. 
One  night  he  laid  it  down  carefully,  as  he  thought,  and 
the  next  morning  he  found  it  soaked  through  !  The  wind 
had  changed,  the  storm  had  beaten  inthiough  a  crack  in 
the  logs,  and  the  appearance  of  the  book  was  ruined 
How  could  he  face  the  owner  under  such  circumstances  ? 
He  had  no  money  to  offer  as  a  return,  but  he  took  the 
book,  went  directly  to  Mr.  Crawford,  showed  him  the 
irreparable  injury,  and  frankly  and  honestly  offered  to 
work  for  him  until  he  should  be  satisfied.  Mr.  Crawford 
accepted  the  offer,  and  gave  Abraham  the  book  for  his 
own,  in  return  for  three  days'  steady  labor  in  "  pulling 
fodder."  This,  and  Weems's  Life  of  Washington,  were 
among  the  boy' s  favorite  books,  and  the  story  that  we  have 
just  told  is  so  nearly  parallel  to  the  famous  "  hatchet"  in- 
cident in  the  early  days  of  the  Father  of  his  Country,  that 
it  is  easy  to  believe  that  the  frequent  perusal  of  it  im- 
pressed upon  his  mind,  more  effectually  than  any  solemn 
exhortation  could  have  done,  the  precept  that  "honesty 
is  the  best  policy,"  and  thus  assisted  to  develop  that 
character  of  which  integrity  was  so  prominent  a  trait 
in  after  years.  Among  the  other  volumes  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  accustomed  to  refer  to,  as  having  been 
eagerly  read  in  his  youthful  days,  were  a  Life  of  Henry 
Clay,  Esop's  Fables,  and  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress. 
It  is  quite  probable  that  the  quaint  phraseology  of  these 
last  two  volumes,  and  their  direct  and  forcible  illustra- 
tions, may  have  impressed  upon  the  productions  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  pen  that  style  which  is  one  of  their  most  pecu- 
liar and  favorite  characteristics. 

When  nineteen  years  old,  Abraham  Lincoln,  moved, 
perhaps,  equally  by  the  desire  to  earn  an  honest  liveli- 
hood in  the  shape  of  "ten  dollars  a  month  and  found," 
and  by  curiosity  to  see  more  of  the  world,  made  a  trip 
down  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans,  upon  a  flat-boat. 
He  went  in  company  with  the  son  of  the  owner  of  the 
boat,  who  intrusted  a  valuable  cargo  to  their  care.  The 
trip  was  quite  an  eventful  and  exciting  one,  for  on  the 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  23 

way  down  the  great  river  they  were  attacked  by  seven 
negroes,  who  hoped  to  capture  the  boat  and  the  cargo. 
They  found,  however,  that  they  had  undertaken  a  task 
to  the  execution  of  which  they  were  unequal.  After  a 
spirited  contest  the  negroes  were  driven  back,  and  com- 
pelled to  abandon  their  attempt,  leaving  our  boatmen 
the  undisputed  masters  of  the  field.  Upon  this  trip 
young  Lincoln's  literary  acquirements  were  called  into 
useful  action,  and  besides  the  stipulated  ten  dollars  per 
month,  he  gained  a  substantial  reputation  as  a  youth  of 
promising  business  talent. 

During  the  twelve  years  that  the  family  had  been 
living  in  Indiana,  the  advancing  tide  of  civilization  had 
again  encroached  upon  them  almost  imperceptibly,  and 
in  1830  Thomas  Lincoln,  impatient  of  the  restrictions 
which  he  found  the  gradually  increasing  population 
drawing  around  him,  again  determined  to  seek  a  new 
home  farther  west,  and  after  fifteen  days'  journey  came 
upon  a  site  near  Decatur,  Macon  County,  Illinois,  which 
seemed  to  him  a  desirable  one.  He  immediately  erected 
a  log  cabin,  and,  with  the  aid  of  his  son,  who  was  now 
twenty-one,  proceeded  to  fence  in  his  new  farm.  Abra- 
ham had  little  idea,  while  engaged  in  the  unromantic 
occupation  of  mauling  the  rails  which  were  to  bound  his 
fathers  possessions,  that  he  was  writing  a  page  in  his  life 
which  would  be  read  by  the  whole  nation  years  after- 
ward. Yet  so  it  proved  to  be.  A  writer,  describing  one 
of  the  incidents  in  the  earlier  political  career  of  the  late 
President,  says: — 

During  the  sitting  of  the  Republican  State  Convention,  at  Decatur,  a 
banner,  attached  to  two  of  these  rails,  and  bearing  an  appropriate  inscrip- 
tion, was  brought  into  the  assemblage,  and  formally  presented  to  that 
body,  amid  a  scene  of  unparalleled  enthusiasm.  After  that,  they  were  in 
demand  in  every  State  of  the  Union  in  which  free  labor  is  honored, 
where  they  were  borne  in  processions  of  the  people,  and  hailed  by  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  freemen  as  a  symbol  of  triumph,  and  as  a  glorioua 
vindication  of  freedom  and  of  the  rights  and  dignity  of  free  labor.  These, 
however,  were  far  from  being  the  first  and  only  rails  made  by  Lincoln 
He  was  a  practised  hand  at  the  business.  Mr.  Lincoln  has  now  a  caiw 
ftiade  from  one  of  the  raib  spli  wn  hands  in  boyhood. 


24  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

Every  one  remembers  how,  during  the  presidential 
campaign  of  1860,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  characterized  as  a 
u  rail-splitter ;"  first,  sneeringly,  by  his  opponents  ;  after- 
wards by  his  own  supporters,  as  the  best  possible  proof 
that  he  was  of  and  from  the  people. 

.Notwithstanding  the  increasing  age  of  Thomas  Lincoln, 
his  disposition  was  so  restless,  and  his  desire  for  change 
so  ineradicable,  that,  after  a  single  year's  residence  in  his 
new  home,  he  determined  to  abandon  it,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1831  started  for  Coles  County,  sixty  or  seventy  miles, 
to  the  eastward.  Abraham  determined  not  to  follow  has 
father  in  his  journeyings,  and  possibly  the  want  of  his  son' s 
efficient  help  compelled  him  to  forego  further  change, 
and  to  settle  down  for  the  rest  of  his  days  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  Embarras,  where  he  died  on 
January  17,  1851,  in  the  seventy -third  year  of  his  age. 
In  the  spring  of  1831,  Abraham  made  his  second  trip  to 
New  Orleans,  in  the  capacity  of  a  fiat-boatman,  returning 
in  the  summer  of  the  same  year.  The  man  who  had  em- 
ployed him  for  this  voyage  was  so  well  pleased  with  the 
energy  and  business  capacity  displayed  by  young  Lincoln, 
that  upon  establishing  a  store  at  New  Salem,  some  twenty 
miles  from  Springfield,  soon  afterward,  he  engaged  him  to 
assist  him  in  the  capacity  of  clerk,  and  also  to  superin- 
tend a  flouring-mill  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  In  one  of 
the  celebrated  debates  during  the  Senatorial  campaign 
Mr.  Douglas  ventured  to  refer,  in  rather  disparaging 
terms,  to  this  year  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life,  taunting  him 
with  having  been  a  grocery-keeper.     To  this  Mr.  Lincoln 

replied  as  follows : — 

i 
The  judge  is  wofully  at  fault  about  his  early  friend  Lincoln  being  a 
"grocery-keeper."  I  don't  know  as  it  would  be  a  great  sin,  if  I  had 
been;  but  he  is  mistaken.  Lincoln  never  kept  a  grocery  anywhere  in 
the  world.  It  is  true  that  Lincoln  did  work  the  latter  part  of  one  winter 
hi  a  little  still-house,  up  at  the  head  of  a  hollow. 

This  frank  statement  drew  the  sting  completely  from 
the  taunt  of  Senator  Douglas.  Some,  at  least,  of  those 
who  were  listening  to  the  debate,  knew  that,  at  the  time 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  25 

to  which.  Mr.  Lincoln  referred,  a  winter  of  unusual 
severity  had  caused  extreme  suffering  through  that  sec- 
tion of  Illinois,  and  that  he  was  not  only  anxious,  but 
compelled,  to  take  up  with  any  occupation  by  which  he 
might  turn  an  honest  penny  in  order  to  keep  his  father's 
family,  who  were  even  then  partially  dependent  upon 
him,  from  positive  want. 

In  1832  the  Black  Hawk  war  broke  out,  and  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, prompt  as  ever  to  answer  the  call  of  duty,  joined  a 
volunteer  company  and  took  the  field  against  the  Indians. 
That  he  had  already  gained  a  recognized  position  in  the 
part  of  the  State  where  he  then  lived,  is  clearly  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  he  was  elected  captain  of  his  company. 
After  a  few  weeks'  ineffectual  service,  the  force  which  had 
responded  to  the  call  of  Governor  Reynolds  was  dis- 
banded. The  troubles  broke  out  anew,  however,  within 
a  short  time,  and  again  Mr.  Lincoln  enlisted,  this  time 
also  as  a  private.  What  rank  was  conferred  upon  him, 
if  any,  during  this  campaign  is  not  recorded ;  but  in  spite 
of  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  him  by  older  mem- 
bers of  his  company,  to  induce  him  to  return  home,  he 
discharged  his  duties  faithfully  through  the  three  months' 
campaign. 

Many  years  after,  during  his  congressional  career,  Mr. 
Lincoln  referred  thus  humorously  to  his  military  services 
in  this  "war:" — 

By  the  way,  Mr.  Speaker,  did  you  know  I  was  a  military  hero! 
1  es,  sir,  in  the  days  of  the  Black  Hawk  war  I  fought,  bled,  and  came 
way.  Speaking  of  General  Cass's  career,  reminds  me  of  my  own.  I 
was  not  at  Sullivan's  defeat,  but  I  was  about  as  near  to  it  as  Cass  was  to 
Hull's  surrender;  and,  like  him,  I  saw  the  place  soon  after.  It  is  quite 
certain  that  I  did  not  break  my  swoi  d,  for  I  had  none  to  break ;  but  I 
bent  my  musket  pretty  badly  on  one  occasion.  If  Cass  broke  his  sword, 
the  idea  is,  he  broke  it  in  desperation.  I  bent  the  musket  by  accident. 
If  General  Cass  went  in  advance  of  me  in  picking  whortleberries,  I  guess 
T  surpassed  him  in  charges  upon  the  wild  onions.  If  he  saw  any  live 
fighting  Indians,  it  was  more  than  I  did,  but  I  had  a  great  many  bloody 
struggles  with  the  mosquitoes;  and  although  I  never  iainted  from  loss  of 
Dlood,  I  certainly  can  say  I  was  often  very  hungry. 

Ills  military  career  closed,  Mr.  Lincolr  turned  his  atten- 


26  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

tion  to  politics.  He  espoused  the  cause  of  Henry  Clay- 
in  opposition  to  that  of  General  Jackson,  who  was  very 
popular  in  that  section  of  Illinois — and  ran  as  a  candidate 
for  the  State  legislature.  Although  this  contest  took 
place  three  months  before  the  presidential  election,  the 
same  elements  entered  into  it,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  de- 
feated, as  he  undoubtedly  expected  to  he,  although  hifc 
failure  must  have  been  amply  compensated  for  by  the 
highly  complimentary  vote  that  he  received  in  his  own 
precinct,  which  gave  him  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
votes  out  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-four  cast ;  and  this, 
be  it  remembered,  was  the  first  and  last  time  that  he  was 
ever  beaten  before  the  people.  The  contest  ended,  Mr. 
Lincoln  settled  down  to  business  again.  He  purchased 
a  store  and  stock  of  goods  on  credit,  and  secured  the 
postmastership  of  the  town;  but  the  venture  was  un- 
successful, and  he  sold  out.  Meanwhile,  he  was  still 
employing  every  opportunity  offered  him  to  improve  his 
mind.  He  had  mastered  grammar,  and  occupied  his 
leisure  time  in  general  reading,  taking  care  to  write  out  a 
synopsis  of  every  book  he  perused,  so  as  to  fix  the  con- 
tents in  his  memory. 

About  this  time  he  met  John  Calhoun,  afterwards 
president  of  the  Lecompton  Constitutional  Convention. 
Calhoun  proposed  to  Lincoln  to  take  up  surveying,  and 
himself  aided  in  his  studies.  He  had  plenty  of  employment 
as  a  surveyor,  and  won  a  good  reputation  in  this  new 
line  of  business ;  but  the  financial  crash  of  1837  destroyed 
bis  business,  and  his  instruments  were  finally  sold  under 
a  sheriff's  execution.  This  reverse  again  threw  him  back 
into  political  life,  and  as  the  best  preparation  for  it  he 
vigorously  pursued  his  legal  studies. 

In  1834,  Mr.  Lincoln  again  ran  for  the  legislature,  and 
this  time  was  elected.  Then  that  political  fife  commenced, 
which  his  countrymen' s  votes  have  since  shown  they 
fully  appreciated.  In  1836,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  again  elect- 
ed to  the  legislature  as  one  of  the  seven  representatives 
from  Sangamon  County,  and  during  this  term  he  waa 
assigned  a  place  on  the  Finance  Committee,  his  mem  oer- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  27 

ship  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Accounts  and  Expendi- 
tures during  his  first  term  1  laying  qualified  him  for  this 
duty. 

The  following  letter,  which  was  written  during  this 
canvass,  besides  "being  an  interesting  reminiscence  of  Mi . 
Lincoln's  early  political  life,  is  valuable  as  exhibiting, 
iu  a  striking  manner,  his  determination  to  be  frank  and 
honest  in  ail  his  dealings  with  the  public  and  with  his 
opponents : — 

Nkw  Salkm,  June  21, 1886. 

Dear  Colonel: — I  am  told  that,  during  ray  absence  last  week,  yon 
passed  through  this  place,  and  stated  publicly  that  you  were  in  possession 
of  a  fact  or  facts,  which,  if  known  to  the  public,  would  entirely  destroy 
the  prospects  of  N.  W.  Edwards  and  myself  at  the  ensuing  election ;  but 
that,  through  favor  to  us,  you  would  forbear  to  divulge  them. 

No  one  has  needed  favors  more  than  I,  and,  generally,  few  have  been 
loss  unwilling  to  accept  them;  but  in  this  case  favor  to  me  would  be  in- 
justice to  the  public,  and,  therefore,  1  must  beg  your  pardon  for  declining 
it.  That  I  once  had  the  confidence  of  the  people  of  Sangamon  county  is 
sufficiently  evident,  and  if  I  have  since  done  any  thing,  either  by  design 
or  misadventure,  which,  if  known,  would  subject  me  to  a  forfeiture  of 
that  confidence,  he  that  knows  of  that  thing  and  conceals  it,  is  a  traitor 
to  his  country's  interest. 

I  find  myself  wholly  unable  to  form  any  conjecture  of  what  fact  or 
facts,  real  or  supposed,  you  spoke.  But  my  opinion  of  your  veracity  will 
not  permit  me,  for  a  moment,  to  doubt  that  you,  at  least,  believed  what 
you  said.  I  am  flattered  with  the  personal  regard  you  manifested  for 
me;  but  I  do  hope  that,  on  more  mature  reflection,  you  will  view  the 
public  interest  as  a  paramount  consideration,  and  therefore  determine  to 
let  the  worst  come. 

I  here  assure  you  that  the  candid  statement  of  facts  on  your  part,  how- 
ever  low  it  may  sink  me,  shall  never  break  the  ties  of  personal  friendship 
between  us. 

I  wish  an  answer  to  this,  and  you  are  at  liberty  to  publish  both,  if  yoa 
cl  oose.  Very  respectfully, 

A.  LlNOOLN. 

Col.  Robert  Allen. 

It  was  in  this  year  (1836)  that  Mr.  Lincoln  first  became 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Douglas,  whom  he  was  destined 
to  meet  in  so  many  hotly  contested  campaigns,  but  whom 
he  did  not  then  anticipate  that  he  should,  twenty -four 
years  afterwards,  defeat  in  a  presidential  election.  The 
Democrats  of  course  held  the  ascendency  in  th«  Illinois 


28  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

legislature  at  this  time,  and  they  took  advantage  of  theii 
strength  to  pass  some  extreme  pro-slavery  resolutions, 
branding  as  "  abolitionists"  those  who  refused  to  indorse 
them.  That  his  position  might  not  be  misunderstood, 
Mr.  Lincoln  took  advantage  of  his  parliamentary  privi- 
lege to  enter  upon  the  Journal  of  the  House,  in  connec- 
tion with  a  colleague,  his  reasons  for  voting  in  opposition 
to  the  resolutions.  This  document,  which  now  possesses 
historical  interest,  reads  as  follows  : — 

Makoh  8, 1837. 

The  following  protest  was  presented  to  the  House,  which  was  read  and 
ordered  to  be  spread  on  the  journals,  to  wit: 

"  Resolutions  upon  the  subject  of  domestic  slavery  having  passed  both 
branches  of  the  General  Assembly  at  its  present  session,  the  undersigned 
hereby  protest  against  the  passage  of  the  same. 

M  They  believe  that  the  institution  of  slavery  is  founded  on  both  injustice 
and  bad  policy;  but  that  the  promulgation  of  abolition  doctrines  tends 
rather  to  increase  than  abate  its  evils. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  no  power, 
under  the  Constitution,  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the 
different  States. 

u  Thoy  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  the  power, 
under  the  Constitution,  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia; 
but  that  the  power  ought  not  to  be  exercised,  unless  at  the  request  of  the 
people  of  said  District. 

11  The  difference  between  these  opinions  and  those  contained  in  the  said 
resolutions,  is  their  reason  for  entering  this  protest. 
"(Signed) 

"Dan  Stone, 
"  A.  Lincoln, 
Representatives  from  the  County  of  Sangamon." 

In  1838,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  for  the  third  time  elected  to 
the  State  legislature ;  and  among  his  six  colleagues,  as  rep- 
resentatives from  Sangamon  County,  was  John  Calhoun, 
since  notorious  for  his  connection  with  the  Lecompton 
Constitution.  His  position  as  leader  of  the  Whigs  in  the 
House  was  so  well  recognized,  that  he  received  the  party 
vote  for  the  Speakership,  and  was  defeated  by  only  one 
vote.  In  1840,  for  the  fourth  successive  term,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  returned  to  the  legislature,  and  again  received 
the  vote  of  his  party  as  the  candidate  for  Speaker. 
Meanwhile,  he  had  been  vigorously  engaged  in  canvas 
sing  the  State,  in  anticipation  of  the  presidential  election. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  29 

and  had  greatly  enhanced  his  reputation  by  his  repeated 
earnest  and  eloquent  efforts. 

Polities  had  interfered  so  seriously  with.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
legal  studies,  which  had  been  energetically  prosecuted 
during  the  intervals  of  legislative  duty,  that  at  the  close 
of  this  term  he  declined  a  renomination,  in  order  that  he 
might  devote  his  whole  time  to  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion. As  already  stated,  he  had  been  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1836  ;  and  on  April  15,  1837,  he  settled  permanently 
in  Springfield,  the  seat  of  Sangamon  County,  which  was 
destined  to  be  his  future  home.  His  friend  and  former 
colleague  in  the  legislature,  Hon.  John  T.  Stuart,  was 
his  partner. 

One  incident  of  his  law  practice  partakes  deeply  of  the 
romantic.  It  is  authentic,  however,  and  is  well  worth 
narrating.  When  Mr.  Lincoln  first  went  out  into  the 
world,  to  earn  a  living  for  himself,  he  worked  for  a  Mr. 
Armstrong,  of  Petersburg,  Menard  County,  who,  with 
his  wife,  took  a  great  interest  in  him,  lent  him  books  to 
read,  and,  after  the  season  for  work  was  over,  encour- 
aged him  to  remain  with  them  until  he  should  find  some- 
thing "to  turn  his  hand  to."  They  also  hoped  much 
from  his  influence  over  their  son,  an  over-indulged  and 
somewhat  unruly  boy.  The  sequel,  which  is  thus  graph- 
ically told  by  the  Cleaveland  Leader,  shows  how  these 
good  people  reaped  their  reward  for  their  generosity  to 
the  young  man  whom  they  so  generously  took  under 
their  protection.     That  journal  says : — 

Some  few  years  since,  the  eldest  son  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  old  friend, 
Armstrong,  the  chief  supporter  of  his  widowed  mother — the  good  old 
man  having  some  time  previously  passed  from  earth — was  arrested  on 
the  charge  of  murder.  A  young  man  had  been  killed  during  a  riotous 
melee  in  the  night-time  at  a  camp-meeting,  and  one  of  his  associates 
stated  that  the  death-wound  was  inflicted  by  young  Armstrong.  A  pre- 
liminary examination  was  gone  into,  at  which  the  accuser  testified  so 
positively,  that  there  seemed  no  doubt  of  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner,  and 
therefore  he  was  held  for  trial.  As  is  too  often  the  case,  the  bloody 
act  caused  an  undue  degree  of  excitement  in  the  public  mind.  Every 
improper  incident  in  the  life  of  the  prisoner — each  act  which  bore  the 
least  semblance  to  rowdyism    < ;  <  !i  -schoolboy  quarrel, — was  suddenly 


30  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

remembered  and  magnified,  until  they  pictured  hirn  as  a  fiend  of  the  inosV 
horrible  hue.  As  these  rumors  spread  abroad  they  were  received  as  gos- 
pel truth,  and  a  feverish  desire  for  vengeance  seized  upon  the  infatuated 
populace,  whilst  only  prison  bars  prevented  a  horrible  death  at  the  hands 
of  a  mob.  The  events  were  heralded  in  the  county  papers,  painted  in 
highest  colors,  accompanied  by  rejoicing  over  the  certainty  of  punishment 
being  meted  out  to  the  guilty  party.  The  prisoner,  overwhelmed  by  tb» 
circumstances  under  which  he  found  himself  placed,  fell  into  a  melan- 
choly condition  bordering  on  despair,  and  the  widowed  mother,  lookin| 
through  her  tears,  saw  no  cause  for  hope  from  earthly  aid. 
i  At  this  juncture,  the  widow  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Lincoln,  vol- 
unteering his  services  in  an  effort  to  save  the  youth  from  the  impending 
stroke.  Gladly  was  his  aid  accepted,  although  it  seemed  impossible  for 
even  his  sagacity  to  prevail  in  such  a  desperate  case ;  but  the  heart  of  Ihe 
attorney  was  in  his  work,  and  he  set  about  it  with  a  will  that  knew  no 
such  word  as  fail.  Feeling  that  the  poisoned  condition  of  the  public  mind 
was  such  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  impanelling  an  impartial  jury 
in  the  court  having  jurisdiction,  he  procured  a  change  of  venue  and  a 
postponement  of  the  trial.  He  then  went  studiously  to  work  unravelling 
the  history  of  the  case,  and  satisfied  himself  that  his  client  was  the  victim 
of  malice,  and  that  the  statements  of  the  accuser  were  a  tissue  of  fake- 
hoods. 

When  the  trial  was  called  on,  the  prisoner,  pale  and  emaciated,  with 
hopelessness  written  on  every  feature,  and  accompanied  by  his  half- 
hoping,  half-despairing  mother — whose  only  hope  was  in  a  mother's  belief 
of  her  son's  innocence,  in  the  justice  of  the  God  she  worshipped,  and  in 
the  noble  counsel,  who,  without  hope  of  fee  or  reward  upon  earth,  had 
undertaken  the  cause — took  his  seat  in  the  prisoners' box,  and  with  a 
"stony  firmness"  listened  to  the  reading  of  the  indictment.  Lincoln  sat 
quietly  by,  while  the  large  auditory  looked  on  him  as  though  wondering 
what  he  could  say  in  defence  of  one  whose  guilt  they  regarded  as  certain. 
The  examination  of  the  witnesses  for  the  State  was  begun,  and  a  well- 
arranged  mass  of  evidence,  circumstantial  and  positive,  was  introduced, 
syhich  seemed  to  impale  the  prisoner  beyond  the  possibility  of  extrication. 
The  counsel  for  the  defence  propounded  but  few  questions,  and  those  of  a 
character  which  excited  no  uneasiness  on  the  part  of  the  prosecutor — 
merely,  in  most  cases,  requiring  the  main  witnesses  to  be  definite  as  to 
the  time  and  place.  When  the  evidence  of  the  prosecution  was  ended, 
Lincoln  introduced  a  few  witnesses  to  remove  some  erroneous  impressions 
in  regard  to  the  previous  character  of  his  client,  who,  though  somewhat 
rowdyish,  had  never  been  known  to  commit  a  vicious  act;  and  to  show 
that  a  greater  degree  of  ill  feeling  existed  between  the  accuser  and  the 
accused,  than  the  accused  and  the  deceased. 

The  prosecutor  felt  that  the  case  was  a  clear  one,  and  nis  opening 
speech  was  brief  and  formal.  Lincoln  arose,  while  a  deathly  silence 
pervaded  the  vast  audience,  and  in  a  clear  and  moderate  tone  began  his 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  31 

irgument.  Slowly  and  carefully  he  reviewed  the  testimony,  pointing  onl 
the  hitherto  unobserved  discrepancies  in  the  statements  of  the  principal 
witness.  That  which  had  seemed  plain  and  plausible  he  made  to  appear 
crooked  as  a  serpent's  path.  The  witness  had  stated  that  the  affair  took 
place  at  a  certain  hour  in  the  evening,  and  that,  by  the  aid  of  the  brightly 
shining  moon,  he  saw  the  prisoner  inflict  the  death-blow  with  the  slung- 
shot.  Mr.  Lincoln  showed  that  at  the  hour  referred  to  the  moon  had  no! 
yet  appeared  above  the  horizon,  and  consequently  the  whole  tale  was  a 
fabrication. 

An  almost  instantaneous  change  seemed  to  have  been  wrought  in  the 
minds  of  his  auditors,  and  the  verdict  of  u  not  guilty"  was  at  the  end  of 
every  tongue.  But  the  advocate  wa3  not  content  with  this  intellectual 
achievement.  His  whole  being  had  for  months  been  bound  up  in  this 
work  of  gratitude  and  mercy,  and  as  the  lava  of  the  over  charged  crater 
bursts  from  its  imprisonment,  so  great  thoughts  and  burning  words  leaped 
forth  from  the  soul  of  the  eloquent  Lincoln.  He  drew  a  picture  of  the 
perjurer  so  horrid  and  ghastly,  that  the  accuser  could  sit  under  it  no 
longer,  but  reeled  and  staggered  from  the  court-room,  whilst  the  audience 
fancied  they  could  see  the  brand  upon  his  brow.  Then  in  words  of  thril- 
ling pathos  Lincoln  appealed  to  the  jurors  as  fathers  of  some  who  might 
become  fatherless,  and  as  husbands  of  wives  who  might  be  widowed,  to 
yield  to  no  previous  impressions,  no  ill-founded  prejudice,  but  to  do  his 
client  justice;  and  as  he  alluded  to  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  he  owel 
the  boy's  sire,  tears  were  seen  to  fall  from-many  eyes  unused  to  weep. 

I*  was  near  night  when  he  concluded,  by  saying  that  if  justice  was* 
done — as  he  believed  it  would  be — before  the  sun  should  set,  it  would 
shine  upon  his  client  a  free  man.  The  jury  retired,  and  the  court  ad- 
journed for  the  day.  Half  an  hour  had  not  elapsed,  when,  as  the  offices 
of  the  court  and  the  volunteer  attorney  sat  at  the  tea-table  of  their  hotel, 
a  messenger  announced  that  the  jury  had  returned  to  their  seats.  AH 
repaired  immediately  to  the  court-house,  and  whilst  the  prisoner  was 
being  brought  from  the  jail,  the  court-room  was  filled  to  overflowing  with 
citizens  from  the  town.  When  the  prisoner  and  his  mother  entered, 
silence  reigned  as  completely  as  though  the  house  were  empty.  The  fore- 
man of  the  jury,  in  answer  to  the  usual  inquiry  from  the  court,  delivered 
the  verdict  of  "Not  Guilty!"  The  widow  dropped  into  the  arms  of  her 
eon,  who  lifted  her  up  and  told  her  to  look  upon  him  as  before,  free  and 
innocent.  Then,  with  the  words,  "Where  is  Mr.  Lincoln?"  he  rushed 
across  the  room  and  grasped  the  hand  of  his  deliverer,  whilst  his  heart 
was  too  full  for  utterance.  Lincoln  turned  his  eyes  toward  the  West, 
where  the  sun  still  lingered  in  view,  and  then,  turning  to  the  youth,  said: 
"  It  is  not  yet  sundown  and  you  are  free."  I  confess  that  my  cheeks  were 
not  wholly  unwet  by  tears,  and  I  turned  from  the  affecting  scene.  As  1 
cast  a  glance  behind,  I  saw  Abraham  Lincoln  obeying  the  Divine  injuno« 
tk  n  by  comforting  the  widowed  and  fatherless. 


32  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

A  writer  in  the  San  Francisco  Bulletin,  in  the  course 
of  an  article  giving  reminiscences  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  thus 
sketches  still  another  phase  of  his  legal  career : — 

A  number  of  years  ago,  the  writer  of  this  lived  in  one  of  the  judicial 
circuits  of  Illinois  in  which  Abraham  Lincoln  had  an  extensive,  though 
not  very  lucrative  practice.  The  terms  of  the  court  were  held  quarterly, 
and  usually  lasted  about  two  weeks.  The  oocasions  were  always  season* 
of  great  importance  and  much  gayety  in  the  little  town  that  had  the  honor 
of  being  the  county  seat.  Distinguished  members  of  the  Bar  from  sur- 
rounding and  even  from  distant  counties,  ex-judges  and  ex-members  of 
Congress  attended,  and  were  personally,  and  many  of  them  popularly 
known  to  almost  every  adult,  male  and  female,  of  the  limited  population. 
They  came  in  by  stages  and  on  horseback.  Among  them,  the  one  above 
all  whose  arrival  was  looked  forward  to  with  the  most  pleasurable  antici- 
pations, and  whose  possible  absence — although  he  never  was  absent — 
was  feared  with  the  liveliest  emotions  of  anxiety,  was  "Uncle  Abe,"  as 
he  was  lovingly  called  by  us  all.  Sometimes  he  might  happen  to  be  a 
day  or  two  late,  and  then,  as  the  Bloomington  stage  came  in  at  sundown, 
the  Bench  and  the  Bar,  jurors  and  the  general  citizens,  would  gather  in 
crowds  at  the  hotel  where  he  always  put  up,  to  give  him  a  welcome  if  he 
should  happily  arrive,  and  to  experience  the  keenest  feelings  of  disappoint- 
ment if  he  should  not.  If  he  arrived,  as  he  alighted  and  stretched  out 
both  his  long  arms  to  shake  hands  with  those  nearest  to  him  and  with 
those  who  approached — his  homely  face  handsome  in  its  broad  and  sun- 
shiny smile,  nis  voice  touching  in  its  kindly  and  cheerful  accents — every 
one  in  his  presence  felt  lighter  in  heart  and  became  joyous.  He  brought 
light  with  him.  He  loved  his  fellow-men  with  all  the  strength  of  his 
great  nature,  and  those  who  came  in  contact  with  him  could  not  help 
reciprocating  the  love.  His  tenderness  of  the  feelings  of  others  waa 
( f  sensitiveness  in  the  extreme. 

For  several  years  after  settling  in  Springfield,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln remained  a  bachelor,  residing  in  the  family  of  Hon. 
William  Butler,  who  was,  a  few  years  since,  elected  State 
Treasurer.  On  November  4th,  1842,  he  married  Miss 
Mary  Todd,  daughter  of  Hon.  Robert  S.  Todd,  of  Lex- 
ington, Kentucky.  She  now  mourns  the  violent  and 
untimely  death  of  her  lamented  husband. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  love  for  Henry  Clay,  which  was  enkin 
died  by  the  life  of  that  statesman,  which  he  read  when  a 
k°Jr5  grew  with  his  years,  and  when  he  reached  manhood 
it  had  deepened  into  enthusiastic  admiration.    In  1844  he 
0tmnpe4  Dliaoii  for  him,  and  even  extended  his  hbovB  to 


State  Papers  op  Abraham  Lincoln.  33 

Indiana.  None  felt  more  keenly  than  lie  the  unexpected 
defeat  of  his  favorite.  In  1846  Mr.  Lineoln  was  induced 
to  accept  the  nomination  for  Congress,  and  in  the  district 
which  had,  two  years  before,  given  Mr.  Clay,  for  Presi 
dent,  a  majority  of  nine  hundred  and  fourteen  votes,  he 
astonished  himself  and  his  friends  by  rolling  up  a  major- 
ity of  fifteen  hundred  and  eleven.  To  add  to  the  signifi- 
cance of  his  triumph,  he  was  the  only  Whig  representative 
from  Illinois,  which  had  then  seven  members  in  that 
body.  This  Congress  had  before  it  subjects  of  great 
importance  and  interest  to  the  country.  The  Mexican 
War  was  in  progress,  and  Congress  had  to  deal  with 
grave  questions  arising  out  of  it,  besides  determining  and 
providing  the  means  by  which  it  was  to  be  carried  on. 
The  irrepressible  Slavery  Question  was  there  also,  in 
many  of  its  Protean  forms, — in  questions  on  the  right  of 
petition,  in  questions  as  to  the  District  of  Columbia,  in 
many  questions  as  to  the  Territories. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  charged  by  his  enemies  in  later  years, 
when  political  hostility  was  hunting  sharply  for  material 
out  of  which  to  make  capital  against  him,  with  lack  of 
patriotism,  alleging  that  he  voted  against  the  war.  The 
charge  was  sharply  and  clearly  made  by  Judge  Douglas, 
at  the  first  of  their  joint  discussions  in  the  Senatorial 
contest  of  1858.  In  his  speech  at  Ottawa,  he  said  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  that  "  while  in  Congress  he  distinguished  him- 
self by  his  opposition  to  the  Mexican  war,  taking  the 
si  le  of  the  common  enemy  against  Ms  own  country, 
and  when  he  returned  home  he  found  that  the  indigna- 
tion of  the  people  followed  him  everywhere." 

No  better  answer  can  be  given  to  this  charge  than  that 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  made,  in  his  reply  to  this 
speech.  He  says:  "1  was  an  old  Whig,  and  whenever 
the  Democratic  party  tried  to  get  me  to  vote  that  the  war 
had  been  righteously  begun  by  the  President,  I  would 
not  do  it.  But  whenever  they  i*sked  for  any  money  or 
land-warrants,  or  any  thing  to  pay  the  soldiers  there, 
during  all  that  time  I  gave  the  same  vote  that  Judge 
Douglas  did.    You  can  think  as  you  please  as  to  whether 


34  The  Life,  Public  Services,  ani» 

that  was  consistent.  Such  is  the  truth,  and  the  Judge 
has  a  light  to  make  all  he  can  out  of  it.  But  when  he, 
by  a  general  charge,  conveys  the  idea  that  I  withheld 
supplies  from  the  soldiers  who  were  fighting  in  the  Mex- 
ican war,  or  did  any  thing  else  to  hinder  the  soldiers,  he 
is,  to  say  the  least,  grossly  and  altogether  mistaken,  as  a 
consultation  of  the  records  will  prove  to  him." 

We  need  no  more  thorough  refutation  of  this  imputa- 
tion upon  his  patriotism  than  is  embodied  in  this  clear 
and  distinct  denial.  It  required  no  little  sagacity,  at  that 
time,  to  draw  a  clear  line  of  demarcation  between  sup- 
porting the  country  while  engaged  in  war,  and  sustaining 
the  war  itself,  which  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  common  with  the 
great  body  of  the  party  with  which  he  was  connected, 
regarded  as  utterly  unjust.  The  Democratic  party  made 
vigorous  use  of  the  charge  everywhere.  The  whok 
foundation  of  it,  doubtless,  was  the  fact  which  Mr.  Lin- 
coln states,  that,  whenever  the  Democrats  tried  to  get 
him  u  to  vote  that  the  war  had  been  righteously  begun,' * 
he  would  not  do  it.  He  showed,  in  fact,  on  this  point, 
the  same  clearness  and  directness,  the  same  keen  eye  fo* 
the  important  point  in  a  controversy,  and  the  same  tena 
city  in  holding  it  fast,  and  thwarting  his  opponent's 
utmost  efforts  to  obscure  it  and  cover  it  up,  to  draw 
attention  to  other  points  and  raise  false  issues,  which 
were  the  marked  characteristics  of  his  great  controversy 
with  Judge  Douglas  at  a  subsequent  period  of  their  poli- 
tical history.  It  is  always  popular,  because  it  always 
seems  patriotic,  to  stand  by  the  country  when  engaged  in 
.War — and  the  people  are  not  invariably  disposed  to  judge 
leniently  of  efforts  to  prove  their  country  in  the  wrong  as 
against  any  foreign  power.  In  this  instance,  Mr  Lincoln 
saw  that  the  strength  of  the  position  of  the  Administration 
before  the  people,  in  reference  to  the  beginning  of  the  war; 
was  in  the  point,  which  they  lost  no  opportunity  of  reiter 
ating,  viz.  :  that  Mexico  had  shed  the  blood  of  our  citizens 
on  our  own  soil.  This  position  he  believed  to  be  false, 
and  he  accordingly  attacked  it  in  a  series  of  resolution* 
requesting  the  President  to  give  the  House  information 


Stat*  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  35 

on  that  point ;  which  President  Polk  would  have  found 
as  difficult  to  dodge  as  Douglas  found  it  to  dodge  tlit 
questions  which  Mr.  Lincoln  proposed  to  him. 

As  a  part  of  the  history  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Congressional 
career,  we  give  these  resolutions,  omitting  the  preamble, 
which  simply  reproduces  the  language  employed  by 
President  Polk  in  his  message,  to  convey  the  impression 
that  the  Mexicans  were  the  aggressors,  and  that  the  war 
was  undertaken  to  repel  invasion,  and  to  avenge  the  shed- 
ding of  the  blood  of  our  fellow-citizens  on  our  own  soil 
The  quaint  phraseology  of  the  resolutions  stamps  them 
as  the  production  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  pen.  They  read  as 
follows : 

Resolved  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  That  the  President  of  the 
United  States  be  respectfully  requested  to  inform  this  House — 

1st.  Whether  the  spot  on  which  the  blood  of  our  citizens  was  shed,  as 
in  his  messages  declared,  was  or  was  not  within  the  territory  of  Spain,  at 
least  after  the  treaty  of  1819,  until  the  Mexican  revolution. 

2d.  Whether  that  spot  is  or  is  not  within  the  territory  which  was 
wrested  from  Spain  hy  the  revolutionary  Government  of  Mexico. 

3d.  Whether  tiiat  spot  is  or  is  not  within  a  settlement  of  people,  whieh 
settlement  has  existed  ever  since  long  before  the  Texas  revolution,  and 
until  its  inhabitants  fled  before  the  approach  of  the  United  States  army. 

4th.  Whether  that  settlement  is  or  is  not  isolated  from  any  and  all 
other  settlements  by  the  Gulf  and  the  Rio  Grande  on  the  south  and  west, 
and  by  wide  uninhabited  regions  on  the  north  and  east. 

5th.  Whether  the  people  of  that  settlement,  or  a  majority  of  them,  or 

any  of  them,  have  ever  submitted  themselves  to  the  government  or  laws 

of  Texas  or  of  the  United  States,  by  consent  or  by  compulsion,  either  by 

accepting  office,  or  voting  at  elections,  or  paying  tax,  or  serving  on  juries, 

W  having  process  served  upon  them,  or  in  any  other  way. 

6th.  Whether  the  people  of  that  settlement  did  or  did  not  flee  from  the 
approach  of  the  United  States  army,  leaving  unprotected  their  homes  anu 
their  growing  crops,  before  the  blood  was  shed,  as  in  the  messages  stated ; 
and  whether  the  first  blood  so  shed,  was  or  was  not  shed  within  the 
enclosure  of  one  of  the  people  who  had  thus  fled  from  it. 

7th.  Whether  our  citizens,  whose  blood  was  shed,  as  in  his  messages 
declared,  were  or  were  not,  at  that  time,  armed  officers  and  soldiers,  sent 
into  that  settlement  by  the  military  order  of  the  President,  through  the 
Secretary  of  War. 

8th.  Whether  the  military  force  of  the  United  States  was  or  was  not 
«o  sent  into  that  settlement  after  General  Taylor  had  more  than  one* 


36  The  Life,  Public  Services,,  and 

intimated  to  the  War  Department  that,  in  his  opinion,  no  such  movement 
v*  a»  necessary  to  the  defence  or  protection  oi  Texas. 

These  resolutions,  which  Mr.  Polk  would  have  found 
it  very  inconvenient  to  answer,  were  laid  over,  under  the 
rule,  and  were  never  acted  upon,  although  Mr.  Lincoln 
commented  on  them  in  a  speech,  made  January  12,  1843, 
which,  by  the  way,  was  his  first  formal  appearance  in  the 
House.  In  this  speech  he  discussed,  in  his  homely  but 
forcible  manner,  the  absurdities  and  contradictions  of  Mr. 
Polk's  message,  and  exposed  its  weaknesses. 

In  these  times,  when  questions  of  so  much  greater  mag 
nitude  and  importance  have  overshadowed  those  which 
occupied  or  agitated  the  public  mind  twenty  years  ago, 
it  seems  strange  that  political  opponents  could  even 
then  have  compelled  Mr.  Lincoln  to  defend  his  course  in 
Congress,  as  having  been  prompted  by  patriotic  motives. 
The  nation  which  has  been  plunged  into  mourning  by  his 
sudden  and  violent  death,  would  now  regard  as  gratuitous 
and  puerile  any  argument,  the  purpose  of  which  should 
be  to  prove  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  action  upon  this  Mexican 
question  was  governed  by  the  same  inflexible  ideas  of 
honor  and  right  which  ruled  him  so  unwaveringly 
throughout  his  entire  public  career,  and  which  have 
6ince  made  his  memory  sacred. 

A  Whig  from  conviction,  Mr.  Lincoln  acted  consistently 
with  his  party  upon  all  questions  of  public  concern.  On 
June  20, 1848,  after  the  nomination  of  General  Cass  as  the 
Democratic  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  Mr.  Lincolr 
made  an  able  speech  in  support  of  the  line  of  policy  th* 
Whigs  had  pursued  regarding  internal  improvements. 
He  ridiculed  mercilessly  the  position  taken  by  Genera] 
Cass  upon  this  important  question,  and,  in  concluding  his 
remarks,  thus  stated  his  own  views,  while  he  dealt  a 
severe  blow  at  the  same  pseudo  chivalric  spirit  of  the 
South,  which  he  has  since  been  chiefly  instrumental  in 
humbling  to  the  dust.     He  said : 

How  to  do  something,  and  still  not  to  do  too  much,  is  tLe  desideratum 
I*et  each  contribute  his  mite  in  the  way  of  suggestion.    The  late  Silaa 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  37 

"Wright,  in  a  letter  to  the  Chicago  convention,  contributed  his,  which  wa§ 
worth  something ;  and  I  now  contribute  mine,  which  may  be  worth 
nothing.  At  all  events,  it  will  mislead  nobody,  and  therefore  will  do  no 
harm.  I  would  not  borrow  money.  I  am  against  an  overwhelming, 
crushing  system.  Suppose  that,  at  each  session,  Congress  shall  first 
determine  how  much  money  can,  for  that  year,  be  spared  for  improve- 
ments; then  apportion  that  sum  to  the  most  important  objects.  Su 
tar  all  is  easy;  but  how  shall  we  determine  which  are  the  most  im- 
portant? On  this  question  comes  the  collision  of  interests,  /shall  be 
slow  to  acknowledge  that  your  harbor  or  your  river  is  more  important 
than  mine,  and  vice  versa.  To  clear  this  difficulty,  let  us  have  that  same 
statistical  information  which  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Vinton]  sug- 
gested at  the  beginning  of  this  session.  In  that  information  we  shall  have 
a  stern,  unbending  basis  of  facts — a  basis  in  nowise  subject  to  whim, 
caprice,  or  local  interest.  The  pre-limited  amount  of  means  will  save  us 
from  doing  too  much,  and  the  statistics  will  save  us  from  doing  what  we 
do  in  wrong  places.  Adopt  and  adhere  to  this  course,  and,  it  seems  to 
me,  the  difficulty  is  cleared. 

One  of  the  gentlemen  from  South  Carolina  [Mr.  Ehett]  very  much  de- 
precates these  statistics.  He  particularly  objects,  as  I  understand  him,  to 
counting  all  the  pigs  and  chickens  in  the  land.  I  do  not  perceive  much 
force  in  the  objection.  It  is  true,  that  if  every  thing  be  enumerated,  a 
portion  of  such  statistics  may  not  be  very  useful  to  this  object.  Such 
products  of  the  country  as  are  to  be  consumed  where  they  are  produced, 
need  no  roads  and  rivers,  no  means  of  transportation,  and  have  no  very 
proper  connection  with  this  subject.  The  surplus,  that  which  is  produced 
in  one  place  to  be  consumed  in  another ;  the  capacity  of  each  locality  for 
producing  a  greater  surplus ;  the  natural  means  of  transportation,  and 
their  susceptibility  of  improvement ;  the  hindrances,  delays,  and  losses  of 
life  and  property  during  transportation,  and  the  causes  of  each,  would  be 
among  the  most  valuable  statistics  in  this  connection.  From  these  it 
would  readily  appear  where  a  given  amount  of  expenditure  would  do  the 
most  good.  These  statistics  might  be  equally  accessible,  as  they  would 
he  equally  useful,  to  both  the  Nation  and  the  States.  In  this  way,  and  by 
these  means,  let  the  Nation  take  hold  of  the  larger  works,  and  the  Statei 
the  smaller  ones;  and  thus,  working  in  a  meeting  direction,  discreetly, 
but  steadily  and  firmly,  what  is  made  unequal  in  one  place  may  be  equal- 
ized in  another,  extravagance  avoided,  and  the  whole  country  put  on  that 
career  of  prosperity  which  shall  correspond  with  its  extent  of  territory, 
its  natural  resources,  and  the  intelligence  and  enterprise  of  its  people. 

The  nomination  of  General  Taylor  as  the  Whig  candi- 
date for  the  Presidency,  "by  the  Convention  of  that  party 
at  Philadelphia,  to  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  delegate, 
foirly  opened  the  campaign,  and  Congress  prolonged  its 


38  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

session  until  August  14th,  as  the  members, — Senators  arid 
Representatives  alike, — insisted,  each  for  himself,  upon 
expressing  his  views,  and  defining  his  position  in  full,  for 
the  benefit  of  his  constituents.  The  only  speech  of  any 
length  made  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  subsequent  to  that  from 
which  we  have  already  quoted,  was  delivered  July  27th, 
when  he  defended,  with  characteristic  shrewdness  and 
ability,  the  position  General  Taylor  had  taken  regarding 
the  exercise  of  the  veto  power.  This  speech  is,  perhaps, 
more  strongly  marked  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  peculiarities  than 
any  other  of  his  Congressional  utterances.  The  keen 
sarcasm  with  which  h^  exposed  the  inconsistencies  of 
both  General  Cass  and  Mr.  Yan  Buren,  is  not  surpassed 
in  any  of  his  subsequent  efforts. 

Upon  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  the  members  en- 
tered energetically  into  the  popular  canvass,  Mr.  Lincoln 
first  making  a  visit  to  New  England,  where  he  delivered 
a  number  of  effective  campaign  speeches  in  support  of 
General  Taylor.  The  journals  of  the  day  note  his  pres- 
ence at  the  Massachusetts  State  Convention  during  his 
brief  visit  to  New  England,  and  speak  in  terms  of  the 
highest  praise  of  an  address  which  he  delivered  at  New 
Bedford.  He  felt  conscious,  however,  that  he  could  labor 
more  effectively  among  his  Western  friends,  and  accord- 
ingly spent  most  of  his  time  during  the  canvass  in  that 
section  of  the  country.  Although  he  failed  to  carry  his 
own  State  for  his  favorite  candidate,  his  disappointment 
was  entirely  forgotten  in  General  Taylor's  election. 

In  December,  when  the  Thirtieth  Congress  reassembled 
for  its  second  session,  Mr.  Lincoln  took  his  seat ;  but  the 
exhaustion  consequent  upon  the  exciting  political  cam- 
paign just  closed,  reacted  upon  Congress,  and  precluded 
the  possibility  of  any  exciting  discussions.  Important 
action  was  taken,  however,  upon  the  slavery  question 
in  some  of  its  phases.  It  is  needless  to  state,  that  du- 
ring his  entire  Congressional  service  Mr.  Lincoln  steadily 
and  persistently  cast  his  vote  upon  the  side  of  freedom. 
llfl  repeatedly  recorded  himself  against  laying  on  the 
table,   without  consideration,  netitions  in  favor  of  th* 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  39 

Abolition  of  slavery  in   the  District  of  Columbia,   and 
against  the  slave-trade. 

On  the  question  of  abolishing  slavery  in  the  District, 
lie  toolc  rather  a  prominent  part.  A  Mr.  Gott  had  in- 
troduced a  resolution  directing  the  proper  committee 
to  introduce  a  bill  abolishing  the  slave-trade  in  the 
District.  On  January  16  (1849),  Mr.  Lincoln  moved  the 
following  amendment,  instructing  the  Committee  to  intro- 
duce a  bill  not  for  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade,  but  of 
slavery,  within  the  District : — 


Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia  be  instructed 
4d  report  a  bill  in  substance  as  follows : 

Seo.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  <f 
t  ie  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  no  person  now  within  the 
I'istrict  of  Columbia,  nor  now  owned  by  any  person  or  persons  now  resi- 
dent within  it,  nor  hereafter  born  within  it,  shall  ever  be  held  in  slavery 
within  said  District. 

Seo.  2.  That  no  person  now  within  said  District,  or  now  owned  by  any 
person  or  persons  now  resident  within  the  same,  or  hereafter  born  within 
fe,  shall  ever  be  held  in  slavery  without  the  limits  of  said  District :  Pro- 
vided, That  the  officers  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  being 
citizens  of  the  slaveholding  States,  coming  into  said  District  on  public 
business,  and  remaining  only  so  long  as  may  be  reasonably  necessary  for 
that  object,  may  be  attended  into  and  out  of  said  District,  and  while  there, 
by  the  necessary  servants  of  themselves  and  their  families,  without  their 
right  to  hold  such  servants  in  service  being  impaired. 

Sec.  3.  That  all  children  born  of  slave  mothers  within  said  District, 
on  or  after  the  1st  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1850,  shall  be 
free ;  but  shall  be  reasonably  supported  and  educated  by  the  respective 
owners  of  their  mothers,  or  by  their  heirs  or  representatives,  and  shall 
serve  reasonable  service  as  apprentices  to  such  owners,  heirs,  or  represen- 
tatives, until  they  respectively  arrive  at  the  age  of years,  when 

they  shall  be  entirely  free :  And  the  municipal  authorities  of  Washington 
and  Georgetown,  within  their  respective  jurisdictional  limits,  are  hereby 
empowered  and  required  to  make  all  suitable  and  necessary  provision  for 
enforcing  obedience  to  this  section,  on  the  part  of  both  masters  and  ap- 
prentices. 

Sec.  4.  That  all  persons  now  within  this  District,  lawfully  held  ai 
•laves,  or  now  owned  by  any  person  or  persons  now  resident  within  said 
District,  shall  remain  such  at  the  will  of  their  respective  owners,  their 
hears,  or  legal  representatives :  Provided,  that  such  OAvner,  or  his  legal 
representatives,  mav  at  any  time  receive  from  the  Treasury  of  the  United 


40  Tue  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

Slates  the  full  value  of  his  or  her  slave,  of  the  class  in  this  section  men* 
ttoned,  upon  which  such  slave  shall  be  forthwith  and  forever  free :  And  pro 
vided  further,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Secretary  of 
State,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  shall  be  a  board  for  determining 
the  value  such  slaves  as  their  owners  desire  to  emancipate  under  this 
section,  and  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  hold  a  session  for  the  purpose  on  the 
first  Monday  of  each  calendar  month,  to  receive  all  applications,  and,  oik 
satisfactory  evidence  in  each  case  that  the  person  presented  for  valuation 
is  a  slave,  and  of  the  class  in  the  section  mentioned,  and  is  owned  by  the 
applicant,  shall  value  such  slave  at  his  or  her  full  cash  value,  and  give  to 
the  applicant  an  order  on  the  Treasury  for  the  amount,  and  also  to  such 
slave  a  certificate  of  freedom. 

Seo.  5.  That  the  municipal  authorities  of  Washington  and  George- 
town, within  their  respective  jurisdictional  limits,  are  hereby  empowered 
and  required  to  provide  active  and  efficient  means  to  arrest  and  deliver 
up  to  their  owners  all  fugitive  slaves  escaping  into  said  District. 

Seo.  6.  That  the  elective  officers  within  said  District  of  Columbia  are 
hereby  empowered  and  required  to  open  polls,  at  all  the  usual  places  of 
holding  elections,  on  tlie  first  Monday  of  April  next,  and  receive  the  vote 
of  every  free  white  citizen  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  having 
resided  within  said  District  for  the  period  of  one  year  or  more  next  prece- 
ding the  time  of  such  voting  for  or  against  this  act,  to  proceed  in  taking  said 
votes,  in  all  respects  not  herein  specified,  as  at  elections  under  the  muni- 
cipal laws,  and  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  to  transmit  correct  state- 
ments of  the  votes  so  cast  to  the  President  of  the  United  States ;  and  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  count  such  votes  immediately,  and 
if  a  majority  of  them  be  found  to  be  for  this  act,  to  forthwith  issue  his  pro- 
clamation giving  notice  of  the  fact ;  and  this  act  shall  only  be  in  full  force 
and  effect  on  and  after  the  day  of  such  proclamation. 

Seo.  7.  That  involuntary  servitude  for  the  punishment  of  crime, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  in  no  wise  be  pro- 
hibited by  this  act. 

Seo.  8.  That  for  all  purposes  of  this  act,  the  jurisdictional  limits  of 
Washington  are  extended  to  all  parts  of  the  District  of  Columbia  not 
included  within  the  present  limits  of  Georgetown. 

A  bill  was  afterwards  reported  by  tlie  committee  for- 
bidding the  introduction  of  slaves  into  the  District  for 
sale  or  hire.  This  bill  also  Mr.  Lincoln  supported,  but 
in  vain.  The  time  for  the  success  of  such  measures,  in- 
volving to  an  extent  attacks  upon  slavery,  had  not  yet 
come. 

The  question  of  the  Territories  also  came  up  in  many 
ways.    Tb*  Wilmot  Proviso  had  made  its  first  appearance 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  41 

in  the  previous  session,  in  the  August  before,  but  it  was  re- 
peatedly before  this  Congress  also,  when  efforts  were  made 
to  apply  it  to  the  territory  which  we  procured  from  Mex- 
ico, and  to  Oregon.  On  all  occasions  when  it  was  before 
the  House  it  was  supported  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  he  stated 
during  his  contest  with  Judge  Douglas,  that  he  had  voted 
for  it,  "in  one  way  and  another,  about  forty  times. " 
He  thus  showed  hinself,  in  1847,  to  be  the  same  friend  of 
freedom  for  the  Territories  which  he  was  afterwards,  du- 
ring the  heat  of  the  Kansas  struggle. 

Another  instance  in  which  the  slavery  question  was 
before  the  House,  was  in  the  famous  Pacheco  case.  This 
was  a  bill  to  reimburse  the  heirs  of  Antonio  Pacheco  for 
the  value  of  a  slave  who  was  hired  by  a  United  States 
officer  in  Florida,  but  ran  away  and  joined  the  Seminoles, 
and,  being  taken  in  arms  with  them,  was  sent  out  of 
Florida  with  them,  when  they  were  transported  to  the 
West.  The  bill  was  reported  to  the  House  by  the  Com- 
mittee on  Military  Affairs.  This  committee  was  com- 
posed of  nine.  Five  of  these  were  slaveholders,  and 
these  made  the  majority  report.  The  others,  not  being 
slaveholders,  reported  against  the  bill.  The  ground 
taken  by  the  majority  was,  that  slaves  were  regarded  as 
property  by  the  Constitution,  and  when  taken  for  public 
service  should  be  paid  for  as  property.  The  principle 
involved  in  the  bill,  therefore,  was  the  same  one  which 
the  slaveholders  had  struggled  in  so  many  ways  to  main- 
tain. As  they  sought  afterwards  to  have  it  established 
by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  so  now  they  tried 
to  have  it  recognized  by  Congress,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  op- 
posed it  there,  as  heartily  as  he  afterwards  withstood 
it  when  it  took  the  more  covert,  but  no  less  dangerous 
shape  of  a  judicial  dictum. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  congressional  career  terminated  at  the 
close  of  this  session  (March  4,  1849),  and,  for  reasons 
satisfactory  to  himself,  he  declined  a  renomination, 
although  his  re-election,  had  he  consented  to  become  a 
candidate,  was  morally  certain.  In  this  same  year,,  how- 
ever, he  was  the  Whig  candidate  in  Illinois  for  United 


42  The  Life,  Public  Skr vices,  a.nd 

States  Senator,  "but  without  success — the  Democrats  hav- 
ing the  control  of  the  State,  which  they  retained  until  the 
conflict  arising  out  of  the  Nebraska  bill,  in  1854. 

Nothing  could  more  forcibly  illustrate  the  complete 
rest  and  relaxation  from  political  cares  and  anxieties 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  enjoyed  during  these  few  years,  than 
the  fitct  that  he  found  time,  while  practising  his  p*0 
fession,  to  indulge  the  exercise  of  his  inventive  faculties. 
A  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Advertiser,  writing  from 
Washington,  thus  states  the  form  in  which  the  mechan- 
ical genius  of  the  ex -Congressman  and  future  President 
found  expression : — 

Occupying  an  ordinary  and  commonplace  position  in  one  of  the  show- 
cases in  the  large  hall  of  the  Patent  Office,  is  one  little  model  which,  in 
ages  to  come,  will  be  prized  as  at  once  one  of  the  most  curious  and  one  of 
the  most  sacred  relics  in  that  vast  museum  of  unique  and  priceless  things. 
This  is  a  plain  and  simple  model  of  a  steamboat,  roughly  fashioned  in 
wood,  by  the  hand  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  It  bears  date  in  1849,  when 
the  inventor  was  known  simply  as  a  successful  lawyer  and  rising  politi- 
cian of  Central  Illinois.  Neither  his  practice  nor  his  politics  took  up  so 
much  of  his  time,  as  to  prevent  him  from  giving  much  attention  to  con- 
trivances which  he  hoped  might  be  of  benefit  to  the  world  and  of  profit 
to  himself. 

The  design  of  this  invention  is  suggestive  of  one  phase  of  Abraham 
Lincoln's  early  life,  when  he  went  up  and  down  the  Mississippi  as  a  fiat- 
boatman,  and  became  familiar  with  some  of  the  dangers  and  inconve- 
niences attending  the  navigation  of  the  Western  rivers.  It  is  an  attempt 
to  make  it  an  easy  matter  to  transport  vessels  over  shoals  and  snags  and 
sawyers.  The  main  idea  is  that  of  an  apparatus  resembling  a  noiseless 
bellows,  placed  on  each  side  of  the  hull  of  the  craft,  just  below  the  water- 
Sne,  and  worked  by  an  odd  but  not  complicated  system  of  ropes,  valves, 
and  pulleys.  When  the  keel  of  the  vessel  grates  against  the  sand  or 
obstruction,  these  bellows  are  to  be  filled  with  air;  and,  thus  buoyed  up, 
the  ship  is  expected  to  float  lightly  and  gayly  over  the  shoal,  which  would 
otherwise  have  proved  a  serious  interruption  to  her  voyage. 

The  model,  which  is  about  eighteen  or  twenty  inches  long,  and  hat 
the  air  of  having  been  whittled  with  a  knife  out  of  a  shingle  and  a  cigar- 
box,  is  built  without  any  elaboration  or  ornament,  or  any  extra  apparatus 
beyond  that  necessary  to  show  the  operation  of  buoying  the  steamer  over 
the  obstructions.  Herein  it  differs  from  very  many  of  the  models  which 
•hare  with  it  the  shelter  of  the  immense  halls  of  the  Patent  Office,  and 
which  are  fashioned  with  wonderful  nicety  and  exquisite  finish,  as  if 
much  of  the  labor  and  thought  arid  affection  of  a  lifetime  had  been  de- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  43 

roted  to  their  const  motion.  This  is  a  model  of  a  different  kind;  carved 
as  one  might  imagine  a  retired  rail-splitter  would  whittle,  strongly,  but 
not  smoothly,  and  evidently  made  with  a  view  solely  to  convey,  by  the 
simplest  possible  means,  to  the  minds  of  the  patent  authorities,  an  idea 
of  the  purpose  and  plan  of  the  simple  invention.  The  label  on  the 
steamer's  deck  informs  us  that  the  patent  was  obtained;  but  we  do  not 
learn  that  the  navigation  of  the  western  rivers  was  revolutionized  by  this 
quaint  conception.  The  modest  little  model  has  reposed  here  sixteen 
years;  and  since  it  found  its  resting-place  here  on  the  shelf,  the  shrewd 
inventor  has  found  it  his  task  to  guide  the  ship  of  state  over  shoals  mora* 
perilous,  and  obstructions  more  obstinate,  than  any  prophet  dreamed  of 
when  Abraham  Lincoln  wrote  his  bold  autograph  on  the  prow  of  this 
miniature  steamer. 

This  curious  episode,  however,  must  not  create  the 
impression  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  allowed  his  mind  to  be 
entirely  diverted  from  the  observation  of  the  important 
political  events  then  transpiring.  He  undoubtedly  noted 
carefully  the  development  of  those  questions  which  sub- 
sequently absorbed  so  large  a  share  of  attention,  and 
calculated  accurately  the  influence  which  they  would 
have  upon  the  relations  of  the  two  great  political  organ- 
izations. He  had  fought  slavery  often  enough  to  know 
what  it  was,  and  he  was  thoroughly  conversant  with  the 
animus  of  its  supporters.  It  is  not,  therefore,  at  all  likely 
that  he  was  taken  by  surprise  when  the  Nebraska  Bill 
was  introduced,  and  the  proposition  was  made  by  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  to  repeal  that  very  Missouri  Compromise 
which  he  had  declared  to  be  "a  sacred  thing,  which  no 
ruthless  hand  would  ever  be  reckless  enough  to  disturb." 

The  Nebraska  Bill  was  passed  May  22, 1854,  and  the 
event  gave  new  and  increased  force  to  the  popular  feel- 
ing in  favor  of  freedom,  which  the  proposition  to  repeal 
the  Missouri  Compromise  had  excited.  Everywhere  the 
friends  of  freedom  gathered  themselves  together  and  ral- 
lied round  her  banner,  to  meet  the  conflict  which  was 
plainly  now  closely  impending,  and  which  had  been  forced 
upon  the  people  by  the  grasping  ambition  of  the  slave- 
holders. The  political  campaign  of  that  year  in  Illinois 
was  one  of  the  severest  ever  known.  It  was  intensified 
by  the  fact  that  a  United  States  Senator  was  to  be  chosen 


44  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

by  the  legislature  then  to  be  elected,  to  fill  the  place  of 
Shields,  who  had  voted  with  Douglas  in  favor  of  the  Ne- 
braska Bill. 

Mr.  Lincoln  took  a  prominent  part  in  this  campaign. 
He  met  Judge  Douglas  before  the  people  on  two  occa- 
sions, the  onlj  ones  when  the  Judge  would  consent  to 
such  a  meeting.  The  first  time  was  at  the  State  Fair  at 
Springfield,  on  October  4th.  This  was  afterwards  con 
sidered  to  have  been  the  greatest  event  of  the  whole  can 
vass.  Mr.  Lincoln  opened  the  discussion ;  and  in  his 
clear  and  eloquent,  yet  homely  way,  exposed  the  tergiver- 
sations of  which  his  opponent  had  been  guilty,  and  the 
fallacy  of  his  pretexts  for  his  present  course. 

Mr.  Douglas  had  always  claimed  to  have  voted  for  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  because  he  sustained 
the  "great  principle"  of  popular  sovereignty,  and  de- 
sired that  the  inhabitants  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  should 
govern  themselves,  as  they  were  well  able  to  do.  The 
fallacy  of  drawing  from  these  premises  the  conclusion 
that  they  therefore  should  have  the  right  to  establish 
slavery  there,  was  most  clearly  and  conclusively  exposed 
by  Mr.  Lincoln,  so  that  no  one  could  thereafter  be  misled 
by  it,  unless  he  was  a  willing  dupe  of  pro-slavery 
sophistry. 

"My  distinguished  friend,"  said  he,  "says  it  is  an 
insult  to  the  emigrants  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  to  sup- 
.pose  that  they  are  not  able  to  govern  themselves.  We 
must  not  slur  over  an  argument  of  this  kind  because  il 
happens  to  tickle  the  ear.  It  must  be  met  and  answered. 
I  admit  that  the  emigrant  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  is 
competent  to  govern  himself,  but  I  deny  his  right  to 
govern  any  other  person  without  that  person's  consent" 

The  two  opponents  met  again  at  Peoria.  We  believe 
it  is  universally  admitted  that  on  both  of  these  occasions 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  decidedly  the  advantage.  The  result  of 
the  election  was  the  defeat  of  the  Democrats,  and  the 
election  of  anti-Nebraska  men  to  the  legislature,  to  secure 
the  election  of  a  United  States  Senator  who  would  be  true 
to  freedom,  if  they  could  be  brought  to  unite  upon  a  can- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  45 

didate.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  naturally  the  candidate  of 
those  who  were  of  Whig  antecedents.  Judge  Trumbull 
was  as  naturally  the  candidate  of  some  who  had  really 
come  out  from  the  Democratic  party — though  they  still 
called  themselves  Free  Democrats. 

There  was  danger,  of  course,  in  such  a  posture  of 
Affairs,  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  that  spirit  of  patriotism  which 
he  has  always  shown,  "by  his  own  personal  exertions 
secured  the  votes  of  his  friends  for  Judge  Trumbull,  who 
was  accordingly  chosen  Senator.  The  charge  was  after  ' 
wards  made  by  the  enemies  of  both,  that  there  had  been 
in  this  matter  a  breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of  Judge 
Trumbull,  and  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  the  right  to  feel,  and 
did  feel,  aggrieved  at  the  result.  Mr.  Lincoln  himself, 
however,  expressly  denied,  in  his  speech  at  Charleston, 
September  18,  1858,  that  there  had  been  any  such  breach 
of  faith. 


46  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE    LINCOLN-DOUGLAS    DEBATE. 

Presidential  Campaign  of  1866. — Douglas  at  Springfield  nr  1857.  — 
Lincoln's  Reply. — The  Great  Debate. — Eloquent  Defence  of  tb? 
Doctrines  of  tub  Republican  Party. — Result  of  the  Contest. 

The  pressure  of  the  slavery  contest  at  last  fully  organ 
ized  the  Republican  party,  which  held  its  first  convention 
for  the  nomination  of  President  and  Yice-President  at 
Philadelphia,  on  June  17,  1856.  John  C.  Fremont  was 
nominated  for  President,  and  William  L.  Dayton  foi 
Vice-President.  Mr.  Lincoln's  name  was  prominent  he- 
fore  the  convention  for  the  latter  office,  and  on  the  infor- 
mal ballot  he  stood  next  to  Mr.  Dayton,  receiving  110 
votes.  Mr.  Lincoln's  name  headed  the  Republican  elec- 
toral ticket  in  Illinois,  and  he  took  an  active  part  in  the 
canvass,  but  the  Democrats  carried  the  State,  though 
only  by  a  plurality  vote. 

Meanwhile,  Senator  Douglas  embraced  every  oppor- 
tunity to  keep  himself  and  his  doctrines  before  the 
people,  but  whichever  waj  he  turned,  he  found  his 
vigilant  antagonist  constantly  in  his  front.  For  twenty 
years  the  two  had  been  so  invariably  opposed  to  each 
other  in  politics,  that  whenever  Mr.  Douglas  made  a 
speech,  the  people  instinctively  anticipated  a  reply  from 
Mr.  Lincoln ;  and  there  was  a  special  Providence  in  thus 
opposing  to  the  wily,  deceptive  sophistries  of  the  former 
the  clear,  incisive  common  sense  of  the  latter,  which  the 
multitude  could  not  avoid  comprehending.  Early  La 
Jun«%  1857,  Senator  Douglas  made  his  famous  speech  in 
Springfield,  which  was  universally  accepted  as  a  declara- 
tion that  he  meant  to  sustain  all  the  acts  of  the  Lecomp- 
ton  Convention,  ey  pro-slavery  constitution 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  47 

should  "be  formed,  tiie  responsibility  for  the  adoption  of 
which  he  meant  to  fasten  upon  the  Republican  party, 
since  it  was  anticipated  that  the  members  of  that  organ- 
ization in  the  Territory  would  refrain  from  voting.  He 
further  indorsed  the  Dred  Scott  decision  in  this  same 
speech,  and,  in  discussing  the  Utah  rebellion,  proposed  to 
«nd  the  difficulty  by  annulling  the  act  establishing  tlm 
Territory.  Mr.  Lincoln  promptly  took  issue  with  him 
apon  all  these  points,  in  a  speech  also  delivered  at 
Springfield,  twc  weeks  later.  He  declared  himself  iu 
favor  of  "  coercing"  the  people  of  Utah  into  obedience, 
and  while  he  "did  not  admit  or  deny  that  the  Judge's 
method  of  coercing  them  might  not  be  as  good  as  any," 
he  showed  how  Mr.  Douglas  abandoned  his  principles, 
and  "his  much-vaunted  doctrine  of  self-government  for 
the  Territories,"  by  suggesting  such  a  plan.  He  then 
defended  the  course  of  action  which  the  Republicans  in 
Kansas  had  adopted,  and  ridiculed  mercilessly  the  myth- 
ical "Free  State  Democrats,"  i>¥  whom  so  much  had  been 
said.  Next  he  discussed  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and 
showed  that,  in  denouncing  it,  he  had  not  gone  so  far  as 
Mr.  Douglas  himself  had  done  in  applauding  General 
Jackson  for  disregarding  the  decision  of  the  same  tribunal 
upon  the  constitutionality  of  the  National  Bank.  Qu  jting 
from  the  Dred  Scott  decision  some  expressions  in  wThich 
Chief-Justice  Taney  intimated  that  the  public  estimate  of 
the  black  man  was  more  favorable  then  than  it  was  in  the 
days  of  the  revolution,  Mr.  Lincoln  replied  to  the  impli- 
cation in  the  following  forcible  manner : — 

This  assumption  is  a  mistake.  In  some  trifling  particulars  the  condi- 
tion of  that  race  has  been  ameliorated ;  but,  as  a  whole,  in  this  country, 
the  change  between  then  and  now  is  decidedly  the  other  way;  and  their 
ultimate  destiny  ha«  never  appeared  so  hopeless  as  in  the  last  three  or 
four  yegrs.  In  two  of  the  five  States — New  Jersey  and  North  Carolina* — 
that  theiv  gave  the  free  negro  the  right  of  voting,  the  right  has  sincet  been 
taken  away;  and  in  the  third — New  York — it  has  been  greatly  abridged, 
while  it  has  not  been  extended,  so  far  as  I  know,  to  a  single  additional 
State,  though  the  number  of  the  States  has  more  than  doubled.  In  those 
days,  as  1  understand,  masters  could,  at  their  own  pleasure,  emancipate 
their  «|}iv8s:  but,  since  then,  such  iegai  restraint*  have  been  made  upon 


48  The  Life,  Pudlic  Services,  and 

emancipation  as  to  amount  almost  to  prohibition.  In  those  days,  legis- 
latures held  the  unquestioned  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  their  respective 
States ;  but  now  it  is  becoming  quite  fashionable  for  State  constitutions 
to  withhold  that  power  from  the  legislatures.  In  those  days,  by  com- 
mon consent,  the  spread  of  the  black  man's  bondage  to  the  new  countries 
was  prohibited;  but  now,  Congress  decides  that  it  will  not  continue  the 
prohibition,  and  the  Supreme  Court  decides  that  it  could  not,  if  it  would. 
In  those  days,  our  Declaration  of  Independence  was  held  sacred  by  all, 
?t:d  thought  to  include  all;  but  now,  to  aid  in  making  the  bondage  of  the 
negro  univerf>Al  and  eternal,  it  is  assailed,  sneered  at,  construed,  hawked 
at,  and  torn,  till,  if  its  framers  could  rise  from  their  graves,  they  could 
not  at  all  recognize  it.  All  the  powers  of  earth  set  n  rapidly  combining 
against  him.  Mammon  is  after  him ;  ambition  follows,  philosoplfy  fol 
lows,  and  the  theology  of  the  day  is  fast  joining  the  cry.  They  have  him 
in  his  prison-house ;  they  have  searched  his  person,  and  left  no  prying 
instrument  with  him.  One  after  another  they  have  closed  the  heavy 
iron  doors  upon  him ;  and  now  they  have  him,  as  it  were,  bolted  in  with 
a  lock  of  a  hundred  keys,  which  can  never  be  unlocked  without  the  con- 
currence of  every  key ;  the  keys  in  the  hands  of  a  hundred  different  men, 
and  they  scattered  to  a  hundred  different  and  distant  places;  and  tbey 
stand  musing  as  to  what  invention,  in  all  the  dominions  of  mind  and 
matter,  can  be  produced  to  make  the  impossibility  of  his  escape  mor« 
complete  than  it  is. 

It  is  grossly  incorrect  to  say  or  assume  that  the  public  estimate  of 
the  negro  is  more  favorable  now  than  it  was  at  the  origin  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

No  one  would  have  been  more  surprised  than  Mr.  Lin- 
coln himself,  could  the  fact  have  "been  revealed  to  him, 
when  uttering  these  words,  that  through  him  as  an  hum- 
ble instrument  in  the  hands  of  Province,  and  in  the 
brief  space  of  eight  years,  a  vastdiar'.^e  r  ^uld  be  brought 
about  in  the  status  of  th?t  dCo.  **  Ijk*s  sufferings  and 
wrongs  he  thus  eloqueiuly  ""'bp'^'jdd* 

In  this  same  spee^ia71^.  ■V^ocla  turned  from  the  course 
of  his  argument  f^"  «  #  M^Tti,  to  demolish,  in  his  charac- 
teristic mamr",  cK  absurd  charge  which  his  opponent 
had  demp<;  ^a  Vunself  by  repeating,  that,  in  laboring  to 
secure  ,up  ji^gio  his  rights,  the  Kepublicans  desired  to 
1  je  K[  D  on  a  complete  political  and  social  equality  with 
t  pelves.    He  said ; — 


State  Papers  op  Abraham  Lincoln,  49 

t»ud  J'ulgo  Dongas  evidently  is  basing  liis  chief  hope  upon  the  chances  of 
his  being  able  to  appropriate  the  benolit  ol*  tiiia  disgust  to  himself.  If  ho 
can,  by  much  drumming  and  repeating,  fasten  the  odium  of  that  idea 
upon  his  adversaries,  he  thinks  he  can  struggle  through  the  storm.  lie 
therefore  clings  to  this  hope,  as  a  drowning  man  to  the  last  plank.  Be 
makes  an  occasion  for  lugging  it  in  from  the  opposition  to  the  Dred  Scott 
decision.  He  finds  the  Kepublicans  insisting  that  the  Declaration  of 
Inpependence  includes  all  men,  black  as  well  as  white,  and  forthwith  he 
boldly  denies  that  it  includes  negroes  at  all,  and  proceeds  10  argue  gravely 
that  all  who  contend  that  it  does,  do  so  only  because  they  want  to  vote, 
eat  and  sleep,  and  marry  with  negroes  1  He  will  have  it  that  they  cannot 
be  consistent  else.  Now,  I  protest  against  the  counterfeit  logic  which 
concludes  that,  because  I  do  not  want  a  black  woman  for  a  slave,  I  must, 
necessarily  want  her  for  a  wife.  I  need  not  have  her  for  either.  I  can 
j  ust  leave  her  alone.  In  some  respects,  she  certainly  is  not  my  equal ; 
but  in  hor  natural  right  to  eat  the  bread  she  earns  with  her  own  hands, 
without  asking  leave  of  any  one  else,  she  is  my  equal,  and  the  equal  of 
dl  others. 

We  have  tlius  presented  the  leading  points  in  these 
two  speeches,  because  the  discussion  was  the  prelude  to 
the  famous  Senatorial  contest  of  1858,  which  gave  Mr. 
Lincoln  a  national  reputation,  not  only  as  an  able  debater 
and  eloquent  orator,  but  as  a  sagacious  and  wise  politi- 
cian— wise  enough  to  stand  inflexibly  by  principles  of 
the  soundness  of  which  he  was  himself  satisfied,  even 
against  the  judgment  of  earnest  friends. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1857,  Mr.  Buchanan  had  taken 
his  seat  in  the  Presidential  chair.  The  struggle  between 
freedom  and  slavery  for  the  possession  of  Kansas  was  at 
its  height.  A  few  days  after  his  inauguration,  the  Su- 
preme Court  rendered  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  which  was 
thought  by  the  friends  of  slavery  to  insure  their  victory, 
by  its  holding  the  Missouri  Compromise  to  be  unconstitu- 
tional, because  the  Constitution  itself  carried  slavery  all 
over  the  Territories  of  the  United  States.  In  spite  of  this 
decision,  the  friends  of  freedom  in  Kansas  maintained 
their  ground.  The  slaveholders,  however,  pushed  for 
ward  their  schemes,  and  in  November,  1857,  their  Con- 
stitutional Convention,  held  at  Lecompton,  adopted  the 
Lecompton  Constitution.  The  trick  by  which  they  sub- 
mitted to  the  popular  vote  only  a  schedule  on  the  slavery 


50  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

queciion,  instead  of  the  whole  Constitution,  compelling 
every  voter,  however  he  might  vote  upon  this  schedule, 
to  vote  for  their  Constitution,  which  fixed  slavery  upon 
the  State  just  as  surely,  whether  the  schedule  was  adopted 
or  not,  will  be  well  remembered,  as  well  as  the  feeling 
which  so  unjust  a  device  excited  throughout  the  North- 
Judge  Douglas  had  sustained  the  Bred  Scott  decision,  but 
he  could  not  sustain  this  attempt  to  force  upon  the  people 
of  Kansas  a  Constitution  against  their  will.  He  took 
ground  openly  and  boldly  against  it- — denouncing  it  in 
the  Senate  and  elsewhere  as  an  outrage  upon  the  people 
of  Kansas,  and  a  violation  of  every  just  Democratic  prin- 
ciple. He  declared  that  he  did  not  care  whether  the 
people  voted  the  Slavery  clause  "  up  or  down,"  but  he 
thought  they  ought  to  have  the  chance  to  vote  for  or 
against  the  Constitution  itself. 

The  Administration  had  made  the  measure  their  own, 
and  this  opposition  of  Douglas  at  once  excited  against 
him  the  active  hostility  of  the  slaveholders  and  theii 
friends,  with  whom  he  had  hitherto  acted  in  concert. 
The  bill  was  finally  passed  through  Congress  on  April 
30th,  1858,  under  what  is  known  as  the  English  Bill, 
whereby  the  Constitution  was  to  be  submitted  to  the 
votes  of  the  people  of  Kansas,  with  the  offer  of  heavy 
bribes  to  them,  in  the  way  of  donations  of  land,  etc.,  if 
they  would  accept  it ;  and  the  people,  in  spite  of  the 
bribes,  voted  it  down  by  an  immense  majority. 

Judge  Douglas's  term  was  on  the  eve  of  expiring,  and 
he  came  home  to  Illinois  after  the  adjournment  of  Con- 
gress, to  attend  in  person  to  the  political  campaign,  upon 
the  result  of  which  was  to  depend  his  re-election  to  the 
Senate.    . 

His  course  on  the  Lecompton  bill  had  made  an  open 
breach  between  him  and  the  Administration,  and  he  had 
rendered  such  good  service  to  the  Eepublicans,  in  their 
battle  with  that  monstrous  infamy,  that  there  were  not 
wanting  many  among  them  who  were  inclined  to  think  it 
would  be  wise  not  to  oppose  his  re-election. 

But  the  Republicans  of  Illinois  thought   otherwise 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  61 

They  knew  that  he  was  not  in  any  sense  a  Republican. 
They  knew  that  on  the  cardinal  principle  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  opposition  to  the  spread  of  Slavery  into  the 
Territories,  he  was  not  with  them ;  for  he  had  declared 
in  the  most  positive  way  that  he  "did  not  care  whether 
Slavery  was  voted  down  or  up."  And  they  therefore 
determined,  in  opposition  to  the  views  of  some  influential 
Republicans,  at  home  as  well  as  in  other  States,  to  fight 
the  battle  through  against  him,  with  all  the  energy  that 
*  they  could  bring  to  the  work.  And  to  this  end,  on  the 
1 7th  of  June,  1858,  at  their  State  Convention  at  Spring- 
field, they  nominated  Mr.  Lincoln  as  their  candidate  for 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

The  circumstances  we  have  briefly  sketched  invested 
the  campaign  about  to  open  with  national  importance. 
The  people  of  the  whole  Union  saw  that  the  struggle  then 
initiated  in  Illinois  must  ultimately  extend  to  other  States, 
and  they  knew  that  they  would  soon  be  compelled  them- 
selves to  pass  upon  the  questions  there  to  be  decided. 
None  doubted  that  the  principle  of  * '  Popular  Sovereignty' ' 
would  be  thoroughly  examined,  for  the  reputation  of  the 
two  combatants  as  men  of  extraordinary  ability  was  es- 
tablished. It  was  the  universal  expectation  that  each 
aspirant  for  senatorial  honors  would  display  peculiar 
caution  in  opening  the  struggle,  in  order  to  prevent  thf 
other  from  gaining  any  undue  advantage  ;  but  Mr.  Lin 
coin  scorned  every  appearance  of  subterfuge  or  evasion. 
His  opinions  had  become  sharply  defined  and  clearl> 
crystallized  during  the  contests  through  which  he  had 
passed  in  the  years  preceding,  and  in  his  speech  to  the 
Convention  which  nominated  him,  signifying  his  accept- 
ance of  the  honor  conferred  upon  him,  he  expressed  him- 
self so  unreservedly  and  frankly  that  even  Lis  supporters 
were  for  the  moment  startled. 

In  a  speech  delivered  at  Chicago,  July  9,— the  first 
after  Mr.  Lincoln's  nomination, — Senator  Douglas  aDuded 
to  this  address  as  having  been  u  well  prepared  and  care- 
fully written."  In  reply,  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  "  Gentlemen, 
Jndge  Douglas  informed  you  that  this  speech  oi  mm# 


62  The  Life,  Public  Services,  ani* 

was  probably  carefully  prepared ,  I  admit  that  it  was. 
1  am  not  a  master  of  language.  I  have  not  a  fine  educa- 
tion ;  I  am  not  capable  of  entering  into  a  disquisition 
upon  dialectics,  as  I  believe  you  call  it."  In  the  address 
thus  alluded  to,  Mr.  Lincoln  struck  the  key-note  of  the 
campaign.  Its  exposition  of  his  political  creed,  and  his 
statement  of  the  important  points  at  issue,  is  so  succinct 
and  complete  that  we  reproduce  it  here.  It  is  as  fol- 
lows : — 

■ 

Mr.  President,  and  Gentlemen  of  tiie  Convention:—  If  wo  could 
first  know  where  we  are,  and  whither  we  are  tending,  we  could  better 
judge  what  to  do,  and  how  to  do  it.  We  are  now  far  into  the  fifth  year 
•ince  a  policy  was  initiated  with  the  avowed  object,  and  confident  prom- 
ise, of  putting  an  end  to  slavery  agitation.  Under  the  operation  of  that 
policy  that  agitation  has  not  only  not  ceased,  but  has  constantly  augment- 
ed. In  my  opinion,  it  will  not  cease  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reached 
and  passed.  "  A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand."  I  believe 
this  Government  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do 
not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolved,  I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall, 
but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing, 
or  all  the  other.  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  furthel 
spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief 
that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction ;  or  its  advocates  will  push 
it  forward  till  it  shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as  well  as 
new,  North  as  well  as  South. 

Have  we  no  tendency  to  the  latter  condition? 

Let  any  one  who  doubts  carefully  contemplate  that  now  almost  com 
plete  legal  combination— piece  of  machinery,  so  to  speak — compounded 
of  the  Nebraska  doctrine  and  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  Let  him  consider 
not  only  what  work  the  machinery  is  adapted  to  do,  and  how  well  adapt- 
ed ;  but  also  let  him  study  the  history  of  its  construction,  and  trace,  if  he 
can,  or  rather  fail,  if  he  can,  to  trace,  the  evidences  of  design  and  concert 
of  action  among  its  chief  architects  from  the  beginning. 

The  new  year  of  1854  found  slavery  excluded  fiv  ui  more  than  half  the 
States  by  State  Constitutions,  and  from  most  of  the  national  territory  by 
Congressional  prohibition.  Four  days  later  commenced  the  struggle 
which  ended  in  repealing  that  Congressional  prohibition.  This  opened 
all  the  national  territory  to  slavery,  and  was  the  first  point  gained. 

But  so  far  Congress  only  had  acted ;  and  an  indorsement  by  the  people, 
real  or  apparent,  was  indispensable,  to  save  the  point  already  gained  and 
give  chance  for  more. 

This  necessity  had  not  been  overlooked,  but  had  been  provided  for,  as 
well  as  might  be,  in  the  notable  argument  of  "squatter  sovereignty, v 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  53 

otherwise  called  "  sacred  right  of  self-government ;"  which  latter  phrase, 
though  expressive  of  the  only  rightful  basis  of  any  government,  was  no 
perverted  in  this  attempted  use  of  it  as  to  amount  to  just  this:  That  if 
any  one  man  choose  to  enslave  another,  no  third  man  shall  be  allowed  to 
object.  That  argument  was  incorporated  into  the  Nebraska  bill  itself,  in 
the  language  which  follows:  "It  being  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of 
this  act  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any  Territory  or  State,  nor  to  exclude 
it  therefrom;  but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and 
regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States."  Then  opened  the  roar  of  loose  decla- 
mation in  favor  of  "squatter  sovereignty,"  and  "sacred  right  of  self-gov- 
arnment."  "But,"  said  opposition  members,  "let  us  amend  the  bill  so 
as  to  expressly  declare  that  the  people  of  the  Territory  may  exclude 
slavery."  "Not  we,"  said  the  friends  of  the  measure;  and  down  they 
voted  the  amendment. 

While  the  Nebraska  bill  was  passing  through  Congress,  a  law-case,  in- 
volving the  question  of  a  negro's  freedom,  by  reason  of  his  owner  having 
voluntarily  taken  him  first  into  a  free  State  and  then  into  a  Territory  cov- 
ered by  the  Congressional  prohibition,  and  held  him  as  a  slave  for  a  long 
time  in  each,  was  passing  through  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  for  the 
District  of  Missouri;  and  both  Nebraska  bill  and  lawsuit  were  brought 
to  a  decision  in  the  same  month  of  May,  1854.  The  negro's  name  wab 
"Dred  Scott,"  which  name  now  designates  the  decision  finally  made  in 
the  case.  Before  the  then  next  presidential  election,  the  law-case  came 
to,  and  was  argued  in,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States ;  but  the 
decision  of  it  was  deferred  until  after  the  election.  Still,  before  the  elec- 
tion, Senator  Trumbull,  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  requested  the  leading 
advocate  of  the  Nebraska  bill  to  state  his  opinion  whether  the  people  of  a 
Territory  can  constitutionally  exclude  slavery  from  their  limits;  and  the 
latter  answers:  "That  is  a  question  for  the  Supreme  Court." 

The  election  came.  Mr.  Buchanan  was  elected,  and  the  indorsement, 
such  as  it  was,  secured.  That  was  the  second  point  gained.  The  in- 
dorsement, however,  fell  short  of  a  clear  popular  majority  by  nearly 
four  hLndred  thousand  votes,  and  so,  perhaps,  was  not  overwhelmingly 
reliable  and  satisfactory.  The  outgoing  president,  in  his  last  anmml 
message,  as  impressively  as  possible  echoed  back  upon  the  people  the 
weight  and  authority  of  the  indorsement.  The  Supreme  Court  met  again ; 
did  not  announce  their  decision,  but  ordered  a  re- argument.  The  presi- 
dential inauguration  came,  and  still  no  decision  of  the  court;  but  the 
incoming  President,  in  his  inaugural  address,  fervently  exhorted  the 
people  to  abide  by  the  forthcoming  decision,  wh/.tever  it  might  be. 
Then,  in  a  few  days,  came  the  decision. 

The  reputed  author  of  the  Nebraska  bill  finds  an  early  occasion  to  mate 
a  speech  at  this  capital,  indorsing  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  vehemently 
denouncing  all  opposition  to  it.    The  new  president,  too,  seizes  the  earl? 


54  The  Life,  Fublio  Services,  aiw 

occasion  of  tlio  Sillirnai  letter  to  indorse  end  strongly  construe  thai 
decision,  and  to  express  his  astonishment  that  any  different  view  had 
ever  been  entertained. 

At  length  a  squabble  springs  np  between  the  President  and  the  author 
of  the  Nebraska  bill,  on  the  mere  question  of  /act,  whether  the  Lecomp- 
ton  Constitution  was  or  was  not,  in  any  just  sense,  made  by  the  people 
of  Kansas;  and  in  that  quarrel  the  latter  declares  that  all  he  wants  is  a 
fair  vote  for  the  people,  and  that  he  cares  not  whether  slave -y  be  voted 
fawn  or  voted  vp.  I  do  not  understand  his  declaration  thai  he  cares  not 
whether  slavery  be  voted  down  or  voted  up,  to  be  intended  by  him  other 
than  as  an  apt  definition  of  the  policy  he  would  impress  upon  the  public 
mind — the  principle  for  which  he  declares  he  has  suffered  so  much,  and 
is  ready  to  suffer  to  the  end.  And  well  may  he  cling  to  that  principle.  If 
he  has  any  parental  feeling,  well  may  he  cling  to  it.  That  principle  is  the 
only  shred  left  of  his  original  Nebraska  doctrine.  Under  the  Dred  Scott 
decision  "squatter  sovereignty"  squatted  out  of  existence,  tumbled  down, 
like  temporary  scaffolding — like  the  mould  at  the  foundry  served  through 
one  blast  and  fell  back  into  loose  sand — helped  to  carry  an  election,  and 
then  was  kicked  to  the  winds.  His  late  joint  struggle  with  the  Republi- 
cans, against  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  involves  nothing  of  the  origi- 
nal Nebraska  doctrine.  That  struggle  was  made  on  a  point — the  right  of 
a  people  to  make  their  own  constitution — upon  which  he  and  the  Repub- 
licans 1  ave  never  differed. 

The  several  points  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  in  connection  with  Sena- 
tor Douglas's  "  care  not"  policy,  constitute  the  piece  of  machinery,  in  its 
present  state  of  advancement.  This  was  the  third  point  gained.  The 
working  points  of  that  machinery  are : — 

First.  That  no  negro  slave,  imported  as  such  from  Africa,  and  no 
descendant  of  such  slave,  can  ever  be  a  citizen  of  any  State,  in  the  sense  of 
that  term  as  used  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  This  point  is 
made  in  order  to  deprive  the  negro,  in  every  possible  event,  of  the  benefit 
of  that  provision  of  the  United  States  Constitution,  which  declares  that 
"The  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges  and  immuni- 
ties of  citizens  in  the  several  States." 

Secondly.  That,  "  subject  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States," 
neither  Congress  nor  a  Territorial  Legislature  can  exclude  slavery  from 
any  United  States  territory.  This  point  is  made  in  order  that  individual 
men  may  fill  up  the  Territories  with  slaves  without  danger  of  losing  them 
as  property,  and  thus  to  enhance  the  chances  of  permanency  to  the  insti 
tution  through  all  the  future. 

Thirdly.  That  whether  the  holding  a  negro  in  actual  slavery  in  a  free 
State  makes  him  free,  as  against  the  holder,  the  United  States  courts  will 
not  decide,  but  will  leave  to  be  decided  by  the  courts  of  any  slave  State 
the  negro  may  be  forced  into  by  the  master.  This  point  is  made,  not  to 
rw  pressed  immediately  ,  but,  if  «cquiesced  in  for  awhile,  and  apparent  y 


State  Papers  or  Abraham  Lincoln.  56 

mdorsed  by  the  people  at  an  election,  then  to  sustain  tht  logical  conclu- 
sion that  what  Dred  Scott's  master  might  lawfully  do  with  Dred  Scott, 
m  the  free  State  of  Illinois,  every  other  master  may  lawfully  do  with 
any  othei  one,  or  one  thousand  slaves,  in  Illinois,  or  in  any  other  free 
State. 

Auxiliary  to  all  this,  and  working  hand  in  hand  with  it,  the  Nebraska 
doctrine,  or  what  is  left  of  it,  is  to  educate  and  mould  publio  opinion,  at 
xeast  Northern  public  opinion,  not  to  care  whether  slavery  is  voted  down 
or  voted  up.  This  shows  exactly  where  we  now  are ;  and  partially,  also^ 
whitl  er  we  are  tending. 

It  will  throw  additional  light  on  the  latter,  to  go  back,  and  run  the 
rr.iud  over  the  string  of  historical  facts  already  stated.  Several  things 
will  now  appear  less  dark  and  mysterious  than  they  did  when  they  were 
transpiring.  The  people  were  to  be  left  "perfectly  free,"  "subject  only 
to  the  Constitution."  "What  the  Constitution  had  to  do  with  it,  outsiders 
could  not  then  see.  Plainly  enough  now,  it  was  an  exactly  fitted  niche 
for  the  Dred  Scott  decision  to  afterward  come  in,  and  declare  the  perfect 
freedom  of  the  people  to  be  just  no  freedom  at  all.  Why  was  the  amend- 
ment, expressly  declaring  the  right  of  the  people,  voted  down?  Plainly 
enough  now:  the  adoption  of  it  would  have  spoiled  the  niche  for  the 
Dred  Scott  decision.  Why  was  the  court  decision  held  up?  Why  even 
a  Senator's  individual  opinion  withheld  till  after  the  presidential  election  ? 
Plainly  enough  now:  the  speaking  out  then  would  have  damaged  the 
perfectly  free  argument  upon  which  the  election  was  to  be  earned.  Why 
the  outgoing  President's  felicitation  on  the  indorsement?  Why  the  delay 
of  a  re-argument  ?  Why  the  incoming  President's  advance  exhortation  in 
favor  of  the  decision  ?  These  things  look  like  the  cautious  patting  and 
petting  of  a  spirited  horse  preparatory  to  mounting  him,  when  it  is 
dreaded  that  he  may  give  the  rider  a  fall.  And  why  the  hasty  after- 
indorsement  of  the  decision  by  the  President  and  others  ? 

We  cannot  absolutely  know  that  all  these  exact  adaptations  are  the 
result  of  preconcert.  But  when  we  see  a  lot  of  framed  timbers,  different 
portions  of  which  we  know  have  been  gotten  out  at  different  times  and 
places,  and  by  different  workmen — Stephen,  Franklin,  Roger,  and  James, 
for  instance — and  when  we  see  these  timbers  joined  together,  and  see 
they  exactly  make  the  frame  of  a  house  or  a  mill,  all  the  tenons  and 
mortices  exactly  fitting,  and  all  the  lengths  and  proportions  of  the  differ  • 
ent  pieces  exactly  adapted  to  their  respective  places,  and  not  a  piece  too 
many  or  too  few  —not  omiitiug  even  scaffolding — or,  if  a  single  piece  be 
lacking,  we  see  the  place  in  the  frame  exactly  fitted  and  prepared  yet  to 
bring  such  piece  in — in  such  a  case,  we  find  it  impossible  not  to  believe 
that  Stephen  and  Franklin  and  Roger  and  James  all  understood  one 
another  from  the  beginning,  and  all  worked  upon  a  common  plan  or 
draft  drawn  up  before  the  first  blow  was  struck. 

Tt  should  not  be  overlooked  that,  by  the  Nebraska  bill,  the  people  of  a 


56  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

State,  as  well  as  Territory,  were  to  be  left  "  perfectly  free,"  u  subject 
only  to  the  Constitution."  Why  mention  a  State  ?  They  were  legislating 
for  Territories,  and  not  for  or  about  States.  Certainly,  the  people  of  a 
State  are  and  ought  to  be  subject  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States ;  but  why  is  mention  of  this  lugged  into  this  merely  territorial 
law?  Why  are  the  people  of  a  Territory  and  the  people  of  a  State 
therein  lumped  together,  and  their  relation  to  the  Constitution  therein 
treated  as  being  precisely  the  same?  While  the  opinion  of  the  court,  by 
Chief  Justice  Taney,  in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  and  the  separate  opinions  of 
nil  the  concurring  Judges,  expressly  declare  that  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  neither  permits  Congress  nor  a  territorial  legislature  U 
exclude  slavery  from  any  United  States  Territory,  they  all  omit  to  declare 
whether  or  not  the  same  Constitution  permits  a  State,  or  tin  people  of  a 
State,  to  exclude  it.  Possibly,  this  is  a  mere  omission ;  tut  who  can  be 
quite  sure,  if  McLean  or  Curtis  had  sought  to  get  into  tine  opinion  a 
declaration  of  unlimited  power  in  the  people  of  a  State  to  exclude  slavery 
from  their  limits,  just  as  Chase  and  Mace  sought  to  get  such  declara- 
tion, in  behalf  of  the  people  of  a  Territory,  into  the  Nebraska  bid; — * 
ask,  who  can  be  quite  sure  that  it  would  not  have  been  voted  down  in 
the  one  case,  as  it  had  been  in  the  other?  The  nearest  approach  to  the 
point  of  declaring  the  power  of  a  State  over  slavery,  is  made  by  Judge 
Nelson.  He  approaches  it  more  than  once,  using  the  precise  idea,  and 
almost  the  language,  too,  of  the  Nebraska  act.  On  one  occasion,  his 
exact  language  is,  ''except  in  cases  where  the  power  is  restrained  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  law  of  the  State  is  supreme  over 
the  subject  of  slavery  within  its  jurisdiction."  In  what  cases  the  power 
of  the  States  is  so  restrained  by  the  United  States  Constitution,  is  left  an 
open  question,  precisely  as  the  same  question,  as  to  the  restraint  on  the 
power  of  the  Territories,  was  left  open  in  the  Nebraska  act.  Put  this 
and  that  together,  and  we  have  another  nice  little  niche,  which  we  may, 
ere  long,  see  filled  with  another  Supreme  Court  decision,  declaring  that 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  does  not  permit  a  State  to  exclude 
•lavery  from  its  limits.  And  this  may  especially  be  expected,  if  the  doc- 
trine of  "care  not  whether  slavery  be  voted  down  or  voted  up,"  shall 
gain  upon  the  public  mind  sufficiently  to  give  promise  that  such  a  decision 
can  be  maintained  when  made. 

Such  a  decision  is  all  that  slavery  now  lacks  of  being  alike  lawful  in 
all  the  States.  Welcome  or  unwelcome,  such  decision  is  probably 
coming,  and  will  soon  be  upon  us,  unless  the  power  of  the  present  politi- 
cal dynasty  shall  be  met  and  overthrown.  We  shall  lie  down  pleasantly 
dreaming  that  the  people  of  Missouri  are  on  the  verge  of  making  their 
State  free,  and  we  shall  awake  to  the  reality  instead,  that'  the  Supreme 
Court  has  made  Illinois  a  slave  State.  To  meet  and  overthrow  the  power 
of  that  dynasty,  is  the  work  now  before  all  those  who  would  prevent 
thai  consummation.    That  is  what  we  have  to  do.     How  can  we  best  do  it  I 


State  Papers  op  Abraham  Lincoln.  57 

There  are  those  who  denounce  us  openly  to  their  own  friends,  and  yet 
wkisper  us  softly,  that  Senator  Douglas  is  the  aptest  instrument  there  if 
with  which  to  effect  that  object.  They  wish  us  to  infer  ail,  from  the 
fact  that  he  now  has  a  little  quarrel  with  the  present  head  of  the  dynasty ; 
and  that  he  has  regularly  voted  with  us  on  a  single  point,  upon  which  he 
and  we  have  never  differed.  They  remind  us  that  he  is  a  great  man,  aud 
that  the  largest  of  us  are  very  small  ones.  Let  this  be  granted.  But  "a 
living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion."  Judge  Douglas,  if  not  a  dead  lion, 
for  this  work,  is  at  least  a  caged  and  toothless  one.  How  can  he  opposo 
the  advances  of  slavery?  He  don't  care  any  thing  about  it.  His  avowed 
mission  is  impressing  the  "  public  heart"  to  care  nothing  about  it.  A 
leading  Douglas  democratic  newspaper  thinks  Douglas's  superior  talent 
will  be  needed  to  resist  the  revival  of  the  African  slave-trade.  Does 
Douglas  believe  an  effort  to  revive  that  trade  is  approaching?  He 
has  not  said  so.  Does  he  really  think  so  ?  But  if  it  is,  how  can  he  resist 
it  ?  For  years  he  has  labored  to  prove  it  a  sacred  right  of  white  men  to 
take  negro  slaves  into  the  new  Territories.  Can  he  possibly  show  that  it. 
is  less  a  sacred  right  to  buy  them  where  they  can  be  bought  cheapest? 
And  unquestionably  they  can  be  bought  cheaper  in  Africa  than  in  Vir- 
ginia. He  has  done  all  in  his  power  to  reduce  the  whole  question  of 
slavery  to  one  of  a  mere  right  of  property ;  and  as  such,  how  can  he  op- 
pose the  foreign  slave-trade — how  can  he  refuse  that  trade  in  that  "  prop- 
erty" shall  be  "  perfectly  free" — unless  he  does  it  as  a  protection  to  the 
home  production  ?  And  as  the  home  producers  will  probably  not  ask  the 
protection,  he  will  be  wholly  without  a  ground  of  opposition. 

Senator  Do*uglas  holds,  we  know,  that  a  man  may  rightfully  be  wiser 
to-day  than  he  was  yesterday — that  he  may  rightfully  change  when  he 
finds  himself  wrong.  But  can  we,  for  that  reason,  run  ahead,  and  infer 
that  he  will  make  any  particular  change,  of  which  he  himself  has  given 
no  intimation?  Can  we  safely  base  our  action  upon  any  such  vague  in- 
ference? Now,  as  ever,  I  wish  not  to  misrepresent  Judge  Douglas's 
position.  question  his  motives,  or  do  aught  that  can  be  personally  offen- 
sive to  him.  Whenever,  if  ever,  he  and  we  can  come  together  on  princi- 
ple, so  that  our  cause  may  have  assistance  from  his  great  abiLry,  I  hope 
to  have  interposed  no  adventitious  obstacle.  But,  clearly,  he  is  not  now 
with  us — he  does  not  pretend  to  be — he  does  not  promise  ever  to  be. 

Our  cause,  then,  must  be  intrusted  to,  and  conducted  by,  its  own 
Txodoubted  friends — those  whose  hands  are  free,  whose  hearts  are  in  the 
work — who  do  care  for  the  result.  Two  years  ago,  the  Republicans  of 
the  nation  mustered  over  thirteen  hundred  thousand  strong.  We  did 
this  under  the  single  impulse  of  resistance  to  a  commou  danger,  with 
every  external  circumstance  against  us.  Of  strange,  discordant,  and 
even  hostile  elements,  we  gathered  from  the  four  winds,  and  formed  and 
fought  the  battle  through,  under  the  constant  hot  fire  of  a  disciplined, 
proud,  and  pampered  enemy.    Did  we  brave  all  then,  to  falter  now  I-  - 


58  'i'he  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

now,  when  that  same  enemy  ^s  wavering,  dissevered,  and  belligerent! 
The  resnlt  is  not  doubtful.  We  shall  not  fail — if  we  stand  firm,  we  shall 
not  fail.  Wise  counsels  may  accelerate,  or  mistakes  delay  it;  but,  sooner 
or  later,  the  victory  is  sure  to  come. 

The  first  paragraph  of  this  speech  has  become  famous 
in  our  political  history,  and  the  whole  address,  with  its 
bold  utterance  of  truths  which  many,  even  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's supporters,  did  not  at  that  time  care  to  face,  was  a 
fitting  prelude  to  the  great  contest  which  was  to  follow. 
Although,  as  its  author  admitted,  it  had  been  carefully 
prepared,  he  had  not  consulted  with  any  of  his  friends 
regarding  it,  and  none  of  them,  even  those  with  whom  he 
was  the  most  intimate,  knew  of  the  positions  which  he 
intended  to  take,  until  they  heard  them  enunciated  from 
the  platform  in  Springfield,  on  that  memorable  June  17. 
Three  weeks  later  (July  9),  Senator  Douglas  arrived  in 
Chicago,  where  his  friends  welcomed  him  with  the  most 
ostentatious  demonstrations.  On  the  same  day  he  made 
a  speech,  reviewing  Mr.  Lincoln's  address  to  the  Spring- 
field Convention.  He  spoke  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  "a  kind, 
amiable,  and  intelligent  gentleman,  a  good  citizen  and  an 
honorable  opponent,"  and  then  proceeded  to  reply  to 
the  speech  in  question,  assuming  a  tone  of  superiority 
almost  amounting  to  superciliousness.  He  was  especially 
severe  upon  the  introductory  passage  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
address,  in  which  he  asserted  his  belief  that  the  Govern- 
ment could  not  endure  half  slave  anc  half  free.  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  himself  present  during  the  delivery  of 
Senator  Douglas's  speech,  and  on  the  next  evening  took 
occasion  to  reply  to  it  before  an  immense  assemblage, 
specially  convened  for  that  purpose.  After  a  few  intro- 
ductory remarks,  Mr.  Lincoln  thus  alluded  to  the  famous 
phrase  which  had  become  the  watch-word  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  for  the  campaign : — 

Popular  sovereignty!  everlasting  popular  sovereignty!  Let  us  for  a 
moment  inquire  into  this  vast  matter  of  popular  sovereignty.  What  ii 
popular  sovereignty  ?  We  rocollect  that  at  an  early  period  in  the  history 
f>f  this  struggle,  there  was  another  name  for  the  same  thing — SqvxtUf 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  59 

Sovereignty.  It  was  not  exactly  Popnlar  Sovereignty,  but  Squatter 
Sovereignty.  What  do  those  terms  mean  ?  What  do  those  terms  mean 
when  used  now?  And  vast  credit  is  taken  by  onr  friend,  the  Judge,  in 
regard  to  his  support  of  it,  when  he  declares  the  last  years  of  his  life  have 
been,  and  all  the  future  years  of  his  life  shall  be,  devoted  to  this  matter 
of  popular  sovereignty.  What  is  it?  Why,  it  is  the  sovereignty  of  the 
people!  What  was  Squatter  Sovereignty?  I  suppose,  if  it  had  any  sig- 
nificance at  all,  it  was  the  right  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves,  to  bt 
sovereign  in  their  ow^n  affairs,  while  they  were  squatted  down  in  a 
country  not  their  own — while  they  had  squatted  on  a  Territory  that  did 
not  belong  to  them,  in  the  sense  that  a  State  belongs  to  the  people  who 
inhabit  it — when  it  belonged  to  the  nation — such  right  to  govern  them- 
selves was  called  u  Squatter  Sovereignty." 

Now  I  wish  you  to  mark.  What  has  become  of  that  Squatter  Sover- 
eignty ?  What  has  become  of  it  ?  Can  you  get  anybody  to  tell  you  now 
that  the  people  of  a  Territory  have  any  anthority  to  govern  themselves, 
in  regard  to  this  mooted  question  of  slavery,  before  they  form  a  State 
Constitution?  No  such  thing  at  all,  although  there  is  a  general  running 
fire,  and  although  there  has  been  a  hurrah  made  in  every  speech  on  that 
side,  assuming  that  policy  had  given  the  people  of  a  Territory  the  right 
to  govern  themselves  upon  this  question ;  yet  the  point  is  dodged.  To- 
day it  has  been  decided — no  more  than  a  year  ago  it  was  decided  by  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  is  insisted  upon  to-day,  that  the 
people  of  a  Territory  have  no  right  to  exclude  slavery  from  a  Territory, 
that  if  any  one  man  chooses  to  take  slaves  into  a  Territory,  all  the  rest 
of  the  people  have  n&  right  to  keep  them  out.  This  being  so,  and  this 
decision  being  made  one  of  the  points  that  the  Judge  approved,  and  one 
in  the  approval  of  which  he  says  he  means  to  keep  me  down — put  me 
down  I  should  not  say,  for  I  have  never  been  up.  He  says  he  is  in  favor 
of  it,  and  sticks  to  it,  and  expects  to  win  his  battle  on  that  decision; 
which  says  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  Squatter  Sovereignty;  but  that 
any  one  man  may  take  slaves  into  a  Territory,  and  all  the  other  men  in 
the  Territory  may  be  opposed  to  it,  and  yet  by  reason  of  the  Con?titutioc 
they  cannot  prohibit  it.  When  that  is  so,  how  much  is  left  of  this  vast 
matter  of  Squatter  Sovereignty,  I  should  like  to  know  ? 

The  Lecompton  Constitution  and  its  fate  were  next  dis- 
cussed, and  then  Mr.  Lincoln  proceeded  to  reply  to  the 
inferences  which  his  opponent  had  so  characteristically 
but  unwarrantably  drawn  from  the  introductory  para- 
graph of  his  Springfield  speech.     He  said : 

In  this  paragraph  which  I  have  quoted  in  your  hearing,  and  to  which  1 
**k  *he  attention  of  all,  Judge  D^eclas  thinks  he  discovers  great  political 


60  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

heresy.  I  want  your  attention  particularly  to  what  he  has  iuferred  from 
it.  He  says  I  am  in  favor  of  making  all  the  States  of  this  Union  uniform 
in  all  their  internal  regulations ;  that  in  all  their  domestic  concerns  I  am 
in  favor  of  making  them  entirely  uniform.  He  draws  this  inference  from 
the  language  I  have  quoted  to  you.  He  says  that  I  am  in  favor  of  making 
war  by  the  North  upon  the  South  for  the  extinction  of  slavery;  that  I  am 
also  in  favor  of  inviting  (as  he  expresses  it)  the  South  to  a  war  upon  the 
Vorth,  for  the  purpose  of  nationalizing  slavery.  Now,  it  is  singular  enough, 
i  you  will  carefully  read  that  passage  over,  that  I  did  not  say  that  I  was  in 
favor  of  any  thing  in  it.  I  only  said  what  I  expected  would  take  place.  I 
made  a  prediction  only — it  may  have  been  a  foolish  one,  perhaps.  I  did 
not  even  say  that  I  desired  that  slavery  should  be  put  in  course  of  ulti- 
mate extinction,  I  do  say  so  now,  however,  so  there  need  be  no  longer 
any  difficulty  about  that.     It  may  be  written  down  in  the  great  speech. 

Gentlemen,  Judge  Douglas  informed  you  that  this  speech  of  mine  was 
probably  carefully  prepared.  I  admit  that  it  was.  I  am  not  master  of 
language ;  I  have  not  a  fine  education ;  I  am  not  capable  of  entering  into 
a  disquisition  upon  dialectics,  as  I  believe  you  call  it;  but  I  do  r  t  believe 
the  language  I  employed  bears  any  such  construction  as  Juage  Douglas 
puts  upon  it.  But  I  don't  care  about  a  quibble  in  regard  to  words.  I 
know  what  I  meant,  and  I  will  not  leave  this  crowd  in  doubt,  if  I  can 
explain  it  to  them,  what  I  really  meant  in  the  use  of  that  paragraph. 

I  am  not,  in  the  first  place,  unaware  that  this  Government  has  endured 
eighty-two  years  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  know  that.  I  am  tolerably 
well  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  country,  and  I  know  that  it  has 
endured  eighty-two  years,  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  leliete — and  that  is 
what  I  meant  to  allude  to  there — I  believe  it  has  endured,  because  during 
all  that  time,  until  the  introduction  of  the  Nebraska  bill,  the  public  mind 
did  rest  all  the  time  in  the  belief  that  slavery  was  in  course  of  ultimate 
extinction.  That  was  what  gave  us  the  rest  that  we  had  through  that 
period  of  eighty-two  years ;  at  least,  so  I  believe.  I  have  always  hated 
slavery,  I  think,  as  much  as  any  Abolitionist — I  have  been  an  Old  Line 
Whig — I  have  always  hated  it,  but  I  have  always  been  quiet  about  it  un- 
til this  new  era  of  the  introduction  of  the  Nebraska  bill  began.  I  always 
believed  that  everybody  was  against  it,  and  that  it  was  in  course  of  ulti- 
mate extinction.  [Pointing  to  Mr.  Browning,  who  stood  near  by.] 
Browning  thought  so ;  the  great  mass  of  the  nation  have  rested  in  the 
belief  that  slavery  was  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction.  They  had 
reason  so  to  believe. 

The  adoption  of  the  Constitution  and  its  attendant  history  led  the 
people  to  believe  so ;  and  that  such  was  the  belief  of  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  itself,  why  did  those  old  men,  about  the  time  of  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution,  decree  that  slavery  should  not  go  into  the  new  Terri- 
tory, where  it  had  not  already  gone  ?  Why  declare  that  within  twenty 
fears  the  African  Slave  Trade,  by  which  slaves  are  supplied,  might  be  cut 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  61 

off  by  Congress  ?  Why  were  all  these  acts  ?  I  might  enumerate  rnor* 
of  these  acts — but  enough.  "What  were  they  but  a  clear  indication  that 
the  trainers  of  the  Constitution  intended  and  expected  the  ultimate  ex- 
tinction of  that  institution?  And  now,  when  I  say,  as  I  said  in  my  speech 
ttiat  Judge  Douglas  has  quoted  from,  when  I  say  that  1  think  the  oppo- 
nents of  slavery  will  resist  the  farther  spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the 
public  mind  shall  rest  with  the  belief  that  it  is  in  course  of  ultimate  ex- 
tinction, I  only  mean  to  say,  that  they  will  place  it  where  the  founders 
cf  this  Government  originally  placed  it. 

I  have  said  a  hundred  times,  and  I  have  now  no  inclination  to  take  it 
back,  that  I  believe  there  is  no  right,  and  ought  to  be  no  inclination  in 
the  people  of  the  free  States  to  enter  into  the  slave  States,  and  interfere 
with  the  question  of  slavery  at  all.  I  have  &Jd  that  always;  Judge 
Douglas  has  heard  me  say  it — if  not  quite  a  hundred  times,  at  least  as 
good  as  a  hundred  times;  and  when  it  is  said  that  I  am  in  favor  of 
interfering  with  slavery  where  it  exists,  I  know  it  is  unwarranted  by 
any  thing  I  have  ever  intended,  and,  as  I  believe,  by  any  thing  I  have  ever 
said.  If,  by  any  means,  I  have  ever  used  language  which  could  fairly  be 
so  construed  (as,  however,  I  believe  I  never  have),  I  now  correct  it. 

So  much,  then,  for  the  inference  that  Judge  Douglas  draws,  that  I  am 
in  favor  of  setting  the  sections  at  war  with  one  another.  I  know  that 
I  never  meant  any  such  thing,  and  I  believe  that  no  fair  mind  can  infer 
any  such  thing  from  any  thing  I  have  ever  said. 


'fheee  speeches  in  Chicago  and  those  that  had  preceded 
them  made  it  evident  that  the  struggle  was  to  take  the 
shape  of  a  personal  contest  between  the  two  men,  and  in 
every  respect, — physically,  mentally,  and  politically, — 
they  were  thoroughly  antagonistic  to  each  other.  Each, 
moreover,  recognized  the  other  as  the  embodiment  of 
principles  to  which  he  was  in  deadly  hostility.  Judge 
Douglas  was  the  champion  of  all  sympathizers  with 
slavery  at  the  North — of  those  who  openly  advocated  it, 
and  still  more  of  those  who  took  the  more  plausible  and 
dangerous  part  of  not  caring  whether  it  "  was  Toted  down 
or  up."  Mr.  Lincoln's  soul  was  on  fire  with  love  for 
freedom  and  for  humanity,  and  with  reverence  for  the 
Fathers  of  the  country,  and  for  the  principles  of  freedom 
for  all,  under  the  light  of  which  they  marched.  He  felt 
that  the  contest  was  no  mere  local  one ;  that  it  was  com- 
paratively of  little  consequence  which  man  succeeded  in 


62  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

the  fight,  but  that  it  was  all-important  that  the  banner  of 
freedom  should  be  borne  with  no  faltering  step,  but  "full 
high  advanced."  And  thus  through  the  whole  campaign 
he  sought  with  all  his  power  to  press  home  tc  the  hearts 
of  the  people  the  principles,  the  example,  and  the  teach- 
ings of  the  men  of  the  Re  volution. 

At  the  time  of  the  delivery  of  the  speeches  in  Chicago, 
to  which  we  have  already  alluded,  there  was  no  under* 
standing  regarding  joint  discussions.  One  week  later,how- 
ever,  both  spoke  in  Springfield  on  the  same  day,  but  be- 
fore different  audiences ;  and  one  week  later,  Mr.  Lincoln 
addressed  a  letter  to  Douglas,  challenging  him  to  a  series 
of  debates  during  the  campaign. 

The  challenge  was  accepted,  and  arrangements  were  at 
once  made  for  the  meetings.  The  terms  proposed  by  Mr. 
Douglas — whether  intentionally  or  unintentionally  does 
not  appear — were  such  as  to  give  him  the  decided  advan- 
tage of  having  four  opening  and  closing  speeches  to  Mr, 
Lincoln' s  three  ;  but  Mr.  Lincoln,  while  noticing  the  in- 
equality, did  not  hesitate  to  accept  them. 

The  seven  joint  debates  were  held  as  follows  : — at  Ot- 
tawa, on  August  21st ;  at  Freeport,  on  August  27th ;  at 
Jonesboro,  on  September  15th ;  at  Charleston,  on  Septem- 
ber 18th ;  at  Galesburg,  on  October  7th ;  at  Quincy,  on  Oc- 
tober 13th  ;  at  Alton,  on  October  15th.  These  seven  tour- 
naments raised  the  greatest  excitement  throughout  the 
State.  They  were  held  in  all  quarters  of  the  State,  from 
Freeport  in  the  north  to  Jonesboro  in  the  extreme  south. 
Everywhere  the  different  parties  turned  out  to  do  honor 
to  their  champions.  Processions  and  cavalcades,  bands  of 
music  and  cannon-firing,  made  every  day  a  day  of  excite- 
ment. But  far  greater  was  the  excitement  of  such  orator 
ical  contests  between  two  such  skilled  debaters,  before 
mixed  audiences  of  friends  and  foes,  to  rejoice  over  every 
keen  thrust  at  the  adversary,  to  be  cast  down  by  each 
failure  to  parry  the  thrust  so  aimed.  It  is  impossible  to 
present  here  any  thing  more  than  the  barest  sketch  of 
these  great  efforts  of  Mr.  Lincoln.    They  are,  and  always 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  63 

will  be,  to  those  who  are  interested  in  the  history  of  the 
slavery  contest,  most  valuable  and  important  documents. 
In  the  first  of  these  joint  debates,  which  took  place  at 
Ottawa,  Mr.  Douglas  again  rung  the  changes  upon  the 
introductory  passage  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Springfield  speech, 
"  a  house  divided  against  itself,"  etc.  Mr.  Lincoln  reitera- 
ted his  assertion,  and  defended  it  in  effect,  as  he  did 
in  his  speech  at  Chicago.  Then  he  took  up  the  charge 
which  he  had  previously  made,  of  the  existence  of  a  con 
spiracy  to  extend  slavery  over  the  Northern  States,  and 
pressed  it  home,  citing  as  proof  a  speech  which  Mr. 
Douglas  himself  had  made  on  the  Lecompton  bill,  in 
which  he  had  substantially  made  the  same  charge  against 
Buchanan  and  others.  He  then  showed  again,  that 
all  that  was  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
scheme  was  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  that  no 
State  could  exclude  slavery,  as  the  court  had  already  de- 
cided that  no  Territory  could  exclude  it,  and  the  acquies- 
cence of  the  people  in  such  a  decision ;  and  he  told  his 
hearers  that  Douglas  was  doing  all  in  his  power  to  bring 
about  si>ch  acquiescence  in  advance,  by  declaring  that 
the  true  position  was,  not  to  care  whether  slavery  "  was 
voted  down  or  up,"  and  by  announcing  himself  in  favor 
of  the  Deed  Scott  decision,  not  because  it  was  right,  but 
because  a  decision  of  the  court  is  to  him  a  "  Thus  saith 
the  Lord,"  and  thus  committing  himself  to  the  next  de- 
cision just  as  firmly  as  to  this.  He  closed  his  speech  with 
the  following  eloquent  words  : — 

Henry  Clay,  my  beau-ideal  of  a  statesman,  the  man  for  whom  I  fonght 
all  my  humble  life— Henry  Clay  once  said  of  a  class  of  men  who  would 
repress  all  tendencies  to  liberty  and  ultimate  emancipation,  that  they 
must,  if  they  would  do  this,  go  back  to  the  era  of  our  independence,  and 
muzzle  tre  cannon  which  thunders  its  annual  joyous  return;  they  must 
blow  ouf  the  moral  lights  around  us ;  they  must  penetrate  the  human 
soul,  and  eradicate  there  the  love  of  liberty ;  and  then,  and  not  till  then, 
could  they  perpetuate  slavery  in  this  country !  To  my  thinking,  Judge 
DougiM  is,  by  his  example  and  vast  influence,  doing  that  very  thing  in 
this  o^mmunity,  when  he  says  that  the  negro  has  nothing  in  the  Declara^ 
Uon   %(  Independence.      Henry  Clay  plainly  understood  the  contrary 


64  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

Judge  Douglas  is  going  back  to  the  era  of  our  Revolution,  and,  to  the  ex- 
tent of  his  ability,  muzzling  the  cannon  which  thunders  its  annual  joyout 
return.  When  be  invites  any  people,  willing  to  have  slavery,  to  establish 
it,  he  is  blowing  out  the  moral  lights  around  us.  When  he  says,  he  "  cares 
not  whether  slavery  is  voted  down  or  voted  up," — that  it  is  a  sacred 
right  of  self-government, — ho  is,  in  my  judgment,  penetrating  the  human 
soul,  aud  eradicating  the  light  of  reason  and  the  love  of  liberty  in  this 
American  people.  And  now  I  will  only  say,  that  when,  by  all  those 
means  and  appliances,  Judge  Douglas  shall  succeed  in  bringing  public  sen- 
timent to  an  exact  accordance  with  his  own  views — when  these  vast  as- 
semblages shall  echo  back  all  these  sentiments— when  they  shall  come  to 
tepeat  his  views  and  to  avow  his  principles,  and  to  say  all  that  he  says  on 
Vhese  mighty  questions — then  it  needs  only  the  formality  of  the  second 
Dred  Scott  decision,  which  he  indorses  in  advance,  to  make  slavery  alike 
lawful  in  all  the  States — old  as  well  as  new,  North  as  well  as  South. 

The  debate  at  Freeport — the  second  of  the  series — took 
place  August  27,  and  was  marked  by  Mr.  Lincoln  answer- 
ing a  series  of  seven  questions  proposed  by  his  opponent. 
We  give  the  interrogatories  and  the  replies,  as  follows  : 

Question  1.  I  desire  to  know  whether  Lincoln  to-day  stands,  as  he  did 
in  1§54,  in  favor  of  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the  1  ugitive  Slave  law  ? 

Answer.  I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  in  favor  of  the  uncondi- 
tional repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law. 

Q.  2.  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands  pledged  to-day,  as  he 
did  in  1854,  against  the  admission  of  any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union, 
even  if  the  people  want  them  ? 

A.  I  do  not  now,  or  ever  did,  stand  pledged  against  the  admission  of 
any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union. 

Q.  3.  I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged  against  the  admis- 
sion of  a  new  State  into  the  Union  with  such  a  Constitution  as  the  people 
of  that  State  may  see  fit  to  make  ? 

A.  I  do  not  stand  pledged  against  the  admission  of  a  new  State  into 
the  Union,  with  such  a  Constitution  as  the  people  of  that  State  may  see 
fit  to  make. 

Q.  4.  I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  to-day  pledged  to  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  ? 

A.  I  do  not  stand  to-day  pledged  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia. 

Q.  5.  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands  pledged  to  the  pro- 
hibition of  the  slave-trade  between  the  different  States  ? 

A.  I  do  not  stand  pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the  slave-trade  be 
tween  the  different  States. 

Q,  6.    X  desire  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged  to  prohibit  slavery 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  65 

in  all  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  North  a?  well  as  South  of  th« 
Missouri  Compromise  line  ? 

A.  I  am  impliedly,  if  not  expressly,  pledged  to  a  belief  in  the  right 
and  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery  in  all  the  United  States  Terri- 
tories. 

Q.  7.  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  is  opposed  to  the  acquisition 
of-  any  new  territory  unless  slavery  is  first  prohibited  therein  ? 

A.  I  am  not  generally  opposed  to  honest  acquisition  of  territory;  and\ 
in  any  given  case,  I  would  or  would  not  oppose  such  acquisition,  accoid* 
ingly  as  I  might  think  such  acquisition  would  or  would  not  aggravate  thi 
slavery  question  among  ourselves. 

Before  answering  these  questions,  Mr.  Lincoln  notified 
Mr.  Douglas  that  he  should  insist  upon  the  right  to  pro- 
pound an  equal  number  to  him,  if  he  desired  to  do  so, 
and  before  closing  submitted  these  four  interrogatories  : 

Question  1.  If  the  people  of  Kansas  shall,  by  means  entirely  unob- 
jectionable in  all  other  respects,  adopt  a  State  Constitution,  and  ask 
admission  into  the  Union  under  it,  before  they  have  the  requisite  number 
of  inhabitants  according  to  the  English  bill — some  ninety-three  thousand 
— will  you  vote  to  admit  them  ? 

Q.  2.  Can  the  people  of  a  United  States  Territory,  in  any  lawful  way, 
against  the  wish  of  any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  exclude  slavery  from 
its  limits  prior  to  the  formation  of  a  State  Constitution  ? 

Q.  3.  If  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  shall  decide  that 
States  cannot  exclude  slavery  from  their  limits,  are  you  in  favor  of  ac- 
quiescing in,  adopting,  and  following  such  decision  as  a  rule  o^  politics! 
action  ? 

Q.  4.  Are  yon  in  favor  of  acquiring  additional  territory,  in  disregard 
of  how  such  acquisition  may  affect  the  nation  on  the  slavery  question  ? 

To  these  questions  he  received,  as  he  undoubtedly  ex- 
pected, only  evasive  replies.  He  also,  in  the  course  of 
the  debate,  pressed  home  upon  his  opponent  a  charge  of 
quoting  resolutions  as  having  been  adopted  at  a  Repub- 
lican State  Convention  which  were  never  so  adopted,  and 
again  called  Douglas's  attention  to  the  conspiracy  to 
nationalize  slavery,  and  showed  that  his  pretended  desire 
to  leave  the  people  of  a  Territory  free  to  establish  slavery 
or  exclude  it,  was  really  only  a  desire  to  allow  them  to 
establish  it,  as  was  show^n  by  his  voting  against  Mr, 


66  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

Chase's  amendment  to  the  Nebraska  bill,  which  gave 
the  leave  to  exclude  it. 

In  the  third  debate,  which  took  place  at  Jonesboro,  Mr, 
Lincoln  showed  that  Douglas  and  his  friends  were  living 
to-  change  the  position  of  the  country  on  the  slavery 
question  from  what  it  was  when  the  Constitution  was 
adopted,  and  that  the  disturbance  of  the  country  had 
arisen  from  this  pernicious  effort.  He  then  cited  from 
"Democratic  speeches  and  platforms  of  formtr  days  to 
prove  that  they  occupied  then  the  very  opposite  ground 
on  the  question  from  that  which  was  taken  at  the  time  he 
was  speaking.  He  also  brought  out  in  strong  relief  the 
evasive  character  of  Douglas's  answers  to  the  questions 
which  he  had  proposed,  especially  the  subterfuge  of  "  un- 
friendly legislation,"  which  he  had  set  forth  as  the  means 
by  which  the  people  of  a  Territory  could  exclude  slavery 
from  its  limits  in  spite  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  pre- 
paring these  questions  for  Douglas,  he  was  urged  by  some 
of  his  friends  not  to  corner  him  on  this  last  point,  because 
he  would  surely  stand  by  his  doctrine  of  Squatter  Sov- 
ereignty in  defiance  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  "and 
that,"  said  they,  "will  make  him  Senator."  "That  may 
be,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  "  but  if 
he  takes  that  shoot  he  never  can  be  President." 

Mr.  Lincoln's  sagacity  did  not  fail  him  here.  This  posi- 
tion which  Douglas  took  of  "unfriendly  legislation," 
was  a  stumbling-block  which  he  was  never  able  to  get 
^ver  ;  and  if  the  contest  between  them  had  brought  out 
no  other  good  result,  the  compelling  Douglas  to  take  this 
ground  was  a  most  important  point  gained. 

In  the  fourth  joint  debate  at  Charleston,  Mr.  Lincoln 
brought  forward  and  spoke  at  length  upon  the  evidence 
of  a  charge  previously  made  by  Judge  Trumbull  against 
Douglas,  of  being  himself  reponsible  for  a  clause  in  the 
Kansas  bill  which  would  have  deprived  the  people  of 
Kansas  of  the  right  to  vote  upon  their  own  Constitution 

He  stated  this  point  as  follows : 

•'■  '■    v..-l  -> 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  67 

Tfce  bill  that  went  into  his  (Mr.  Douglas's)  hands  had  the  provision  in  it 
for  *  submission  of  the  Constitution  to  the  people  ;  and  I  say  its  language 
amounts  to  an  express  provision  for  a  submission,  and  that  he  took  the 
provision  out.  He  says  it  was  known  that  the  bill  was  silent  in  this 
particular;  hut  I  say.  Judge  Douyhut,  it  was  not  silent  when  you  got  it. 
[t  was  vocal  with  the  declaration,  when  you  got  it,  for  a  submission  of 
the  Constitution  to  the  people.  And  now,  my  direct  question  to  Judge 
Douglas  is,  to  answer  why,  if  lie  deemed  the  bill  silent  on  this  point,  h«j 
found  it  necessary  to  strike  out  those  particular  harmless  words.  If  "tm 
had  found  the  bill  silent  and  without  this  provision,  he  might  say  wl  at 
>e  does  now.  If  he  supposes  it  was  implied  that  the  Constitution  would 
a  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  how  could  these  two  lines  so  en- 
tumber  the  statute  as  to  make  it  necessary  to  strike  them  out  ?  How 
*ould  he  infer  that  a  submission  was  still  implied,  after  its  express  provi- 
sion had  been  stricken  from  the  bill?  I  find  the  bill  vocal  with  the  pro- 
vision, -while  he  silenced  it.  He  took  it  out,  and  although  he  took  out 
the  other  provision  preventing  a  submission  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  I  ask, 
vJiy  did  you  first  put  it  in?  I  ask  him  whether  he  took  the  original 
provision  out,  which  Trumbull  alleges  was  in  the  bill  ?  If  he  admits  that  he 
did  take  it  out,  I  ask  him  what  he  did  it  for  ?  It  looks  to  us  as  if  he  had 
altered  the  bill.  If  it  looks  differently  to  him — if  he  has  a  different  reason 
for  his  action  from  the  one  we  assign  him — he  can  tell  it.  I  insist  upon 
Knowing  why  he  made  the  bill  silent  upon  that  point,  when  it  was  vocal 
before  he  put  his  hands  upon  it. 

Mr.  Douglas,  it  is  needless  to  say,  could  not  parry  this 
home  thrust.  In  Ms  efforts  to  do  so  (for  Mr.  Lincoln  gave 
him  several  opportunities  subsequently  to  explain  his 
position),  he  invariably  lost  his  temper. 

In  view  of  the  discussions  now  in  progress  in  many 
parts  of  the  country,  the  following  passage  from  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's final  rejoinder  to  Mr.  Douglas,  in  this  debate  at 
Charleston,  possesses  peculiar  interest. 

Jndgo  Douglas  has  said  to  yon  that  he  has  not  beon  able  to  get  from 
me  an  answer  to  the  question  whether  I  am  in  favor  of  negro  citizenship. 
So  far.  as  I  know,  the  Judge  never  asked  me  the  question  before.  He 
shall  have  no  occasion  to  ever  ask  it  again,  for  I  tell  him  very  frankl/ 
that  I  am  not  in  favor  of  negro  citizenship.  This  furnishes  me  an  occa- 
sion for  saying  a  few  words  upon  the  subject.  I  mentioned  in  a  certain 
speech  of  mine  w^hich  has  been  printed,  that  the  Supreme  Court  had 
decided  that  a  negro  could  not  possibly  be  made  a  citizen ;  and  with- 
out saying  what  was  my  ground  of  complaint  in  regard  to  that,  OJ 
whether  I  had  any  ground  of  complaint,  Judge  Douglas  has  from  thai 


68  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

tbing  manufactured  nearly  every  thing  that  he  ever  says  about  my  dispo- 
sition to  produce  an  equality  between  the  negroes  and  the  white  people 
If  any  one  will  read  my  speech,  he  will  find  I  mentioned  that  as  one  of 
the  points  decided  in  the  course  of  the  Supreme  Court  opinions,  bat  1  did 
not  state  what  objection  I  had  to  it.  But  Judge  Douglas  tells  the  people 
what  my  objection  was,  when  I  did  not  tell  them  myself.  Now  my  opinion 
is  that  the  different  States  have  the  power  to  make  a  negro  a  citizen  under 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  if  they  choose.  The  Dred  Scott 
decision  decides  that  they  have  not  that  power.  If  the  State  of  lllinoii 
had  that  power  I  should  be  opposed  to  the  exercise  of  it.  That  is  all  I 
have  to  say  about  it. 

Ill  the  fifth  joint  debate,  that  at  Galesburg,  Mr.  Lincoln 
defended  the  Republican  party  from  the  charge  of  being 
sectional,  and  in  the  course  of  his  speech  he  thus  pointedly 
sketched  the  difference  between  the  supporters  of  Mr. 
Douglas  and  their  opponents,  as  regarded  the  manner  in 
■which  they  respectively  looked  upon  the  free  and  slave 
States : — 

The  Judge  tells,  m  proceeding,  that  he  is  opposed  to  making  any  odious 
distinctions  between  free  and  slave  States.  I  am  altogether  unaware  that 
the  Republicans  are  in  favor  of  making  any  odious  distinctions  between 
the  free  and  slave  States.  But  there  still  is  a  difference,  I  think,  between 
Judge  Douglas  and  the  Republicans  in  this.  I  suppose  that  the  real  dif- 
ference between  Judge  Douglas  and  his  friends,  and  the  Republicans  on 
the  contrary,  is,  that  the  Judge  is  not  in  favor  of  making  any  difference 
between  slavery  and  liberty — that  he  is  in  favor  of  eradicating,  of  pressing 
out  of  view,  the  questions  of  preference  in  this  country  for  free  or  slave 
institutions ;  and  consequently  every  sentiment  he  utters  discards  the  idea 
that  there  is  any  wrong  in  slavery.  Every  thing  that  emanates  from  him 
or  his  coadjutors  in  their  course  of  policy,  carefully  excludes  the  thought 
that  there  is  any  thing  wrong  in  slavery.  All  their  arguments,  if  you 
will  consider  them,  will  be  seen  to  exclude  the  thought  that  there  is  any 
thing  whatever  wrong  in  slavery.  If  you  will  take  the  Judge's  speech*-, 
and  select  the  short  and  pointed  sentences  expressed  by  him — as  i  , 
declaration  that  he  "don't  care  whether  slavery  is  voted  up  or  down" 
you  will  see  at  once  that  this  is  perfectly  logical,  if  you  do  not  admit  that 
slavery  is  wrong.  If  you  do  admit  that  it  is  wrong,  Judge  Douglas  cannot 
logically  say  he  don't  care  whether  a  wrong  is  voted  up  or  voted  down. 
Judge  Douglas  declares  that  if  any  community  want  slavery  they  have  * 
right  to  have  it.  He  can  say  that  logically,  if  he  says  that  there  is  no 
wrong  in  slavery ;  but  if  you  admit  that  there  is  a  wrong  in  it,  he  cannot 
logically  say  that  anybody  has  a  right  to  do  wrong.  He  insists  that, 
upon  the  score  of  equality,  the  owners  of  slaves  and  the  owners  of  property 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  69 

— of  horses  and  every  other  sort  of  property — should  be  alike,  and  hold 
them  alike  in  a  new  Territory.  That  is  perfectly  logical,  if  the  two 
species  of  property  are  alike,  and  are  equally  founded  in  right.  But  if  you 
admit  that  one  of  them  is  wrong,  you  cannot  institute  any  equality  be- 
tween right  and  wrong.  And  from  this  difference  of  sentiment — the  belief 
on  the  part  of  one  that  the  institution  is  wrong,  and  a  policy  springing 
from  that  belief  which  looks  to  the  arrest  of  the  enlargement  of  that 
wrong ;  and  this  other  sentiment,  that  it  is  no  wrong,  and  a  policy  sprung 
from  that  sentiment  which  will  tolerate  no  idea  of  preventing  that  wrong 
from  growing  larger,  and  looks  to  there  never  being  an  end  of  it  through 
all  the  existence  of  things — arises  the  real  difference  between  Judge 
Doughs  and  his  friends  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Eepublicans  on  the 
other.  Now,  I  confess  myself  as  belonging  to  that  class  in  the  country 
who  contemplate  slavery  as  a  moral,  social,  and  political  evil,  having  due 
regard  for  its  actual  existence  amongst  us,  and  the  difficulties  of  getting 
rid  of  it  in  any  satisfactory  way,  and  to  all  the  Constitutional  obligations 
which  have  been  thrown  about  it ;  but,  nevertheless,  desire  a  policy  that 
looks  to  the  prevention  of  it  as  a  wrong,  and  looks  hopefully  to  the  time 
when,  as  a  wrong,  it  may  come  to  an  end. 

Mr.  Lincoln  also,  after  again  calling  attention  to  the 
fraudulent  resolutions,  and  giving  strong  proof  that  Doug- 
las himself  was  a  party  to  the  imposition,  showed  that  he 
had  failed  to  answer  his  question  about  the  acceptance 
of  the  new  Dred  Scott  decision,  which,  he  said,  was  "  just 
as  sure  to  be  made  as  to-morrow  is  to  come,  if  the  Demo- 
cratic party  shall  be  sustained"  in  the  elections.  He  then 
discussed  the  policy  of  acquiring  more  territory,  and  the 
importance  of  deciding  upon  any  such  acquisition,  by  the 
effect  which  it  would  have  upon  the  Slavery  question 
among  ourselves. 

In  the  next  debate,  at  Quincy,  besides  making  some 
personal  points  as  to  the  mode  in  which  Douglas  had  con  - 
ducted  the  previous  discussions,  he  stated  clearly  and 
briefly  what  were  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party, 
what  they  proposed  to  do,  and  what  they  did  not  propose 
to  do. 

This  exposition  is  at  once  so  lucid  and  succinct  that 
we  give  the  passage  at  length.  Mr.  Lincoln  alluded  to  the 
assertion  made  by  Judge  Douglas  at  Galesburg,  that  he 
(Mr.  Lincoln)  dlesired  to  avoid  the  responsibility  attach 


70  The  Life,  Public  SePwVices,  and 

Ing  to  the  "  enormity' '  of  the  principles  he  advocated,  and 
said  that  he  would  heartily  state  those  principles,  as  well 
as  it  was  in  his  power  to  do,  "  in  all  their  eiiorfriity,^ 
which  he  did  as  follows : 

We  have  in  this  nation  this  element  of  domestic  slavery.  It  is  a  matter , 
of  absolute  certainty  that  it  is  a  disturbing  element.  It  is  the  opinion  of  ! 
all  the  great  men  who  have  expressed  an  opinion  npon  it,  that  it  is  a  dan  ' 
gerous  element.  We  keep  up  a  controversy  in  regard  to  it.  That  contro- 
versy necessarily  springs  from  difference  of  opinion,  and  if  we  can  learn 
exactly — can  reduce  to  the  lowest  elements — what  that  difference  of  opinion 
is.  we  perhaps  shall  be  better  prepared  for  discussing  the  different  systems 
of  policy  that  we  would  propose  in  regard  to  that  disturbing  element. 
I  suggest  that  the  difference  of  opinion,  reduced  to  its  lowest  terms,  is  no 
other  than  the  difference  between  the  men  who  think  slavery  a  wrong 
and  those  who  do  not  think  it  wrong.  The  Republican  party  think  it 
a  wrong — we  think  it  is  a  moral,  a  social,  and  a  political  wrong.  We 
think  it  is  a  wrong  not  confining  itself  merely  to  the  persons  or  the  states 
where  it  exists,  but  that  it  is  a  wrong  in  its  tendency,  to  say  the  least,  that 
extends  itself  to  the  existence  of  the  whole  nation.  Because  we  think  it 
wrong,  we  propose  a  course  of  policy  that  shall  deal  with  it  as  a  wrong. 
We  deal  with  it  as  with  any  other  wrong,  in  so  far  as  we  can  prevent  its 
growing  any  larger,  and  so  deal  with  it  that  in  the  run  of  time  there  may 
be  some  promise  of  an  end  to  it.  We  have  a  due  regard  to  the  actual 
presence  of  it  amongst  us,  and  the  difficulties  of  getting  rid  of  it  in  any 
satisfactory  way,  and  all  the  Constitutional  obligations  thrown  about  it. 
I  suppose  that  in  reference  both  to  its  actual  existence  in  the  n  ition,  and 
to  our  Constitutional  obligations,  we  have  no  right  at  all  to  disturb  it  in 
the  States  where  it  exists,  and  we  profess  that  we  have  no  more  inclina- 
tion to  disturb  it  than  we  have  the  right  to  do  it.  We  go  further  than 
that;  we  don't  propose  to  disturb  it  where,  in  one  instance,  we  think  the 
Constitution  would  permit  us.  We  think  the  Constitution  would  permit 
ss  to  disturb  it  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  Still  we  do  not  propose  to 
io  that,  unless  it  should  be  in  terms  which  I  don't  suppose  the  nation  is 
very  likely  soon  to  agree  to — the  terms  of  making  the  emancipation 
gradual,  and  compensating  the  unwilling  owners.  Where  we  suppose  we 
have  the  Constitutional  right,  we  restrain  ourselves  in  reference  to  the 
actual  existence  of  the  institution  and  the  difficulties  thrown  about  it. 
We  also  oppose  it  as  an  evil,  so  far  as  it  seeks  to  spread  itself.  We  insist 
on  the  policy  that  shall  restrict  it  to  its  present  limits.  We  don't  suppose 
that  in  doing  this  we  violate  any  thing  due  to  the  actual  presence  of  the 
institution,  or  an/  thing  due  to  the  Constitutional  guaranties  thrown 
around  it. 

We  oppose  the  Dred  Scott  decision  in  a  certain  way,  npon  which  I 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  71 

ought  perhaps  to  address  you  a  few  words.  "We  do  not  propose  that 
when  Dred  Scott  has  been  decided  to  he  a  slave  by  the  court,  we,  a.s  a 
mob,  will  decide  him  to  be  free.  We  do  not  propose  that,  when  any 
other  one,  or  one  thousand,  shall  be  decided  by  that  court  to  be  slaves, 
we  will  in  any  violent  way  disturb  the  rights  of  property  thus  settled  ; 
but  we  nevertheless  do  oppose  that  decision  as  a  political  rule,  which 
shall  bo  binding  on  the  voter  to  vote  for  nobody  who  thinks  it  wrong, 
which  shall  be  binding  on  the  members  of  Congress  or  the  President  to 
favor  no  measure  that  does  not  actually  concur  with  the  principles  of  that 
decision.  We  do  not  propose  to  be  bound  by  it  as  a  political  rule  in  that 
way,  because  we  think  it  lays  the  foundation  not  merely  of  enlarging 
and  spreading  out  what  we  consider  an  evil,  but  it  lays  the  foundation  for 
spreading  that  evil  into  the  States  themselves.  "We  propose  so  resisting 
it  as  to  have  it  reversed  if  we  can,  and  a  new  judicial  rule  established 
upon  this  subject. 

I  will  add  this,  that  if  there  be  any  man  who  does  not  believe  that 
slavery  is  wrong  in  the  three  aspects  which  I  have  mentioned,  or  in  any 
one  of  them,  that  man  is  misplaced,  and  ought  to  leave  us.  While,  on  the 
other  hand,  if  there  be  any  man  in  the  Republican  party  who  is  impa- 
tient over  the  necessity  springing  from  its  actual  presence,  and  is  impa- 
tient of  the  Constitutional  guaranties  thrown  around  it,  and  would  act  in 
lisregard  of  these,  lie  too  is  misplaced,  standing  with  us.  He  will  find  his 
place  somewhere  else ;  for  we  have  a  due  regard,  so  far  as  we  are  capable 
of  understanding  them,  for  all  these  things.  This,  gentlemen,  as  well  aa 
I  can  give  it,  is  a  plain  statement  of  our  principles  in  all  their  enormity. 

Mr.  Douglas  replied  to  Mr.  Lincoln  in  a  manner  which 
proved  that  he  felt  the  arguments  which  his  antagonist 
had  advanced  to  he  actually  unanswerable,  and  in  open 
ing  his  rejoinder  Mr.  Lincoln  used  this  language  : — 

I  wish  to  return  to  Judge  Douglas  my  profound  thanks  for  his  publio 
annunciation  here  to-day,  to  be  put  on  record,  that  his  system  of  policy 
;n  regard  to  the  institution  of  slavery  contemplates  that  it  shall  last  for- 
« ever.  We  are  getting  a  little  nearer  the  true  issue  of  this  controversy,  and 
I  am  profoundly  grateful  for  this  one  sentence.  Judge  Douglas  asks  you, 
"  Why  cannot  the  institution  of  slavery,  or  rather,  why  cannot  the  nation, 
part  slave  and  part  free,  continue  as  our  fathers  made  it  forever?"  In  the 
first  pTace,  I  insist  that  our  fathers  did  not  make  this  nation  half  slave 
and  half  free,  or  part  slave  and  part  free.  I  insist  that  they  found  the  in- 
stitution of  slavery  existing  here.  They  did  not  make  it  so,  but  they  left 
it  so,  because  they  knew  of  no  way  to  get  rid  of  it  at  that  time.  When 
Tudge  Douglas  undertakes  to  say  that,  as  a  matter  of  choice,  the  fathers 
•f  the  Government  made  this  nation  part  slave  and  part  free,  he  assumes 
what  is  historically   a  falsehood.     Aiore  than  that :    when  the  father* 


72  The  Life,  Publ*c  Services,  and 

of  the  Government  cut  off  the  source  of  slavery  by  the  abolition  of 
the  slave-trade,  and  adopted  a  system  of  restricting  it  from  the  new 
Territories  where  it  had  not  existed,  I  maintain  that  they  placed  it 
where  they  understood,  and  all  sensible  men  understood,  it  was  in  the 
course  of  ultimate  extinction ;  and  when  Judge  Douglas  asks  me  why  it 
cannot  continue  as  our  fathers  made  it,  I  ask  him  why  he  and  his  friends 
could  not  let  it  remain  as  our  fathers  made  it  ? 

It  is  precisely  all  I  ask  of  him  in  relation  to  the  institution  of  slavery, 
that  it  shall  be  placed  upon  the  basis  that  our  fathers  placed  it  upon.  Mr. 
Brooks,  of  South  Carolina,  once  said,  and  truly,  said,  that  when  this  Gcv-, 
ernment  was  established,  no  one  expected  the  institution  of  slavery  to 
last  until  this  day ;  and  that  the  men  who  formed  this  Government  were 
wiser  and  better  than  the  men  of  these  days ;  but  the  men  of  these  days 
had  experience  which  the  fathers  had  not,  and  that  experience  had  taught 
them  the  invention  of  the  cotton-gin,  and  this  had  made  the  perpetuation 
of  the  institution  of  slavery  a  necessity  in  this  country.  Judge  Douglas 
could  not  let  it  stand  upon  the  basis  on  which  our  fathers  placed  it,  but 
removed  it,  and  put  it  upon  the  cotton-gin  basis.  It  is  a  question,  there- 
fore, for  him  and  his  friends  to  answer — why  they  could  not  let  it  remain 
where  the  fathers  of  the  Government  originally  placed  it. 

The  seventh  and  last  joint  debate  took  place  at  Alton, 
October  15.  According  to  the  schedule  previously  agreed 
upon,  Mr.  Douglas  had  the  opening  speech.  Mr.  Lincoln, 
in  his  rejoinder,  made  a  thorough  and  exhaustive  review 
of  the  slavery  question  in  its  relations  to  the  Democratic 
party.  He  showed  that  the  doctrines  of  that  party,  with 
reference  to  this  question,  were  not  those  held  at  the  time 
of  the  Kevolution ;  traced  the  development  of  the  agita- 
tion which  had  resulted  from  the  efforts  of  the  Democracy 
to  put  slavery  upon  a  different  footing,  and  sketched  the 
dangers  and  difficulties  in  which  this  attempt  had  in- 
volved the  country.  He  thus  expressed  his  opinion  of  I 
the  way  in  which  this  agitation  might  be  terminated  : — 

I  have  intimated  that  I  thought  the  agitation  would  not  cease  until  a 
crisis  should  have  been  reached  and  passed.  I  have  stated  in  what  way  I 
thought  it  would  be  reached  and  passed.  I  have  said  that  it  might  go 
one  way  or  the  other.  We  might,  by  arresting  the  further  spread  of  it, 
and  placing  it  where  the  fathers  originally  placed  it,  put  it  where  Jie  pub- 
lic mind  should  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  was  in  the  course  of  ultimate  ex- 
tinction. Thus  the  agitation  may  cease.  It  may  be  pushed  forward  until 
It  shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as  well  as  new,  North  a* 
well  as  South.     I  have  said,  and  I  repeat,  my  wish  is  that  the  furthei 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  73 

spread  of  it  may  be  arrested,  and  that  it  may  be  placed  where  the  publio 
mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction. 
I  have  expressed  that  as  my  wish.  I  entertain  the  opinion,  upon  evidence 
sufficient  to  my  mind,  that  the  fathers  of  this  Government  placed  that  in- 
stitution where  the  public  mind  did  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  was  in  the 
course  of  ultimate  extinction.  Let  me  ask  why  they  made  provision  that 
tne  source  of  slavery — the  African  slave-trade — should  be  cut  off  at  the 
!  end  of  twenty  years  ?  Why  did  they  make  provision  that  in  all  the  new 
■territory  we  owned  at  that  time,  slavery  should  be  forever  inhibited? 
"Why  stop  its  spread  in  one  direction  and  cut  off  its  source  in  another,  il 
they  did  not  look  to  its  being  placed  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction  1 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  demonstrated  that  the  whole  contro- 
versy tnrned  upon  the  vital  question  whether  slavery 
was  wrong  or  not,  and  proved  that  the  sentiment  of  the 
Democratic  party,  as  it  then  existed,  was  that  it  was  not 
wrong,  and  that  Douglas  and  those  who  sympathized 
with  him  did  not  desire  or  ever  expect  to  see  the  country 
freed  from  this  gigantic  evil.     Upon  this  point  he  said : 

The  sentiment  that  contemplates  the  institution  of  slavery  in  this  coun- 
try as  a  wrong  is  the  sentiment  of  the  Republican  party.  It  is  the  senti- 
ment around  which  all  their  actions — all  their  arguments  circle — from 
which  all  their  propositions  radiate.  They  look  upon  it  as  being  a  moral, 
social,  and  political  wrong ;  and  while  they  contemplate  it  as  such,  they 
nevertheless  have  due  regard  for  its  actual  existence  among  us,  and  the 
difficulties  of  getting  rid  of  it  in  any  satisfactory  way,  and  to  all  the  con- 
stitutional obligations  thrown  about  it.  Yet,  having  a  due  regard  foi 
these,  they  desire  a  policy  in  regard  to  it  that  looks  to  its  not  creating 
tny  more  danger.  They  insist  that  it  should,  as  far  as  may  be,  be  treated 
.  *  a  wrong,  and  one  of  the  metnods  of  treating  it  as  a  wrong  is  to  make 
provision  that  it  shall  grow  no  larger.  They  also  desire  a  policy  that 
looks  to  a  peaceful  end  of  slavery  at  some  time,  as  being  wrong.  These 
lire  the  views  they  entertain  in  regard  to  it,  as  I  understand  them ;  and  all 
their  sentiments — all  their  arguments  and  propositions  are  brought  within 
this  range.  I  have  said,  and  I  repeat  it  here,  that  if  there  be  a  man  amongst 
us  who  does  not  think  that  the  institution  of  slavery  is  wrong,  in  any  one 
of  the  aspects  of  which  I  have  spoken,  he  is  misplaced,  and  ought  not  to  be 
with  us.  And  if  there  be  a  man  amongst  us  who  is  so  impatient  of  it  as  a 
wrong  as  to  disregard  its  actual  presence  among  us,  and  the  difficulty  of 
getting  rid  of  it  suddenly  in  a  satisfactory  way,  and  to  disregard  the  con- 
stitutional obligations  thrown  about  it,  that  man  is  misplaced,  if  he  is  on 
our  platform.  We  disclaim  sympathy  with  him  in  practical  action.  H«. 
\B  not  placed  properly  with  us,. 


74  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

On  this  subject  of  treating  it  as  a  wrong,  and  limiting  its  spread,  let 
me  say  a  word.     Has  any  thing  ever  threatened  the  existence  of  this  Union, 
save  and  except  this  very  institution  of  slavery?     What  is  it  that  we  hold 
most  dear  amongst  us?     Our  own  liberty  and  prosperity.    What  has  ever 
threatened  our  liberty  and  prosperity,  save  and  except  this  institution  of 
slavery?    If  this  is  true,  how  do  you  propose  to  improve  the  condition  of 
things  by  enlarging  slavery — by  spreading  it  out  and  making  it  bigger 
You  may  have  a  wen  or  cancer  upon  your  person  and  not  be  able  to  cu  *■ 
it  out  lest  you  bleed  to  death ;  but  surely  it  is  no  way  to  cure  it,  to  en  v 
graft  it  and  spread  it  over  your  whole  body.     That  is  no  proper  way  01 
treating  what  you  regard  a  wrong.     You  see  this  peaceful  way  of  dealing 
with  it  as  a  wrong — restricting  the  spread  of  it,  and  not  allowing  it  to  go 
iato  new  countries  where  it  has  not  already  existed.     That  is  the  peaceful 
way,  the  old-fashioned  way,  the  way  in  which  the  fathers  themselves  set 
us  the  example. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  have  said  there  is  a  sentiment  which  treats  it  as 
not  being  wrong.  That  is  the  Democratic  sentiment  of  this  day.  I  do 
not  mean  to  say  that  every  man  who  stands  within  that  range  positively 
asserts  that  it  is  right.  That  class  will  include  all  who  positively  assert 
that  it  is  right,  and  all  who,  like  Judge  Douglas,  treat  it  as  indifferent,  and 
do  not  say  it  is  either  right  or  wrong.  These  two  classes  of  men  fall 
within  the  general  class  of  those  who  do  not  look  upon  it  as  a  wrong. 
And  if  there  be  among  you  anybody  who  supposes  that  he,  as  a  Demo- 
crat, can  consider  himself  "as  much  opposed  to  slavery  as  anybody,"  I 
would  like  to  reason  with  him.  You  never  treat  it  as  a  wrong.  What 
other  thing  that  you  consider  as  a  wrong,  do  you  deal  with  as  you  deal 
with  that?  Perhaps  you  say  it  is  wrong,  but  your  leader  never  does,  and 
you  quarrel  with  anybody  who  says  it  is  wrong.  Although  you  pretend 
to  say  so  yourself,  you  can  find  no  fit  place  to  deal  with  it  as  a  wrong. 
You  must  not  say  any  thing  about  it  in  the  free  States,  because  it  is  not 
here.  You  must  not  say  any  thing  about  it  in  the  slave  States,  because  it> 
its  there.  You  must  not  say  any  thing  about  it  in  the  pulpit,  because  that 
is  religion,  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  You  must  not  say  any  thing 
about  it  In  politics,  because  that  will  disturb  the  security  of  "my  place." 
There  is  no  place  to  talk  about  it  as  being  a  wrong,  although  you  say 
yourself  it  is  a  wrong.  But,  finally,  you  will  screw  yourself  up  to  the  be- 
lief that  if  the  people  of  the  slave  States  should  adopt  a  system  of  grad- 
ual emancipation  on  the  slavery  question,  you  would  be  in  favor  of  it. 
Ton  would  be  in  favor  of  it.  You  say  that  is  getting  it  in  the  right  p?ace, 
ttiid  you  would  be  glad  to  see  it  succeed.  But  you  are  deceiving  yourself. 
Tou  all  know  that  Frank  Blair  and  Gratz  Brown,  down  there  in  St.  Louis, 
undertook  to  introduce  that  system  into  Missouri.  They  fought  as  vali- 
antly as  they  could  for  the  system  of  gradual  emancipation  which  you 
pretend  you  would  be  glad  to  see  succeed.  Now  I  will  bring  you  to  the 
to«t.     After  a  hard  fight  they  were  beaten,  and  when  the  news  came  ove? 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  75 

here  you  threw  up  your  hats  and  hurrahed  for  Democracy.  More  than 
that;  tai:e  all  the  arguments  made  in  favor  of  the  system  you  have  pro* 
posed,  and  it  carefully  excludes  the  idea  that  there  is  any  thinsr  wrong  in 
the  institution  of  slavery.  The  arguments  to  sustain  that  policy  carefully 
excluded  it.  Even  here  to-day  you  heard  Judge  Douglas  quarrel  with  me 
because  I  uttered  a  wish  that  it  might  sometime  come  to  an  end.  Al- 
though Henry  Olay  could  say  he  wished  every  slave  in  the  United  State* 
was  in  the  country  of  his  ancestors,  I  am  denounced  by  those  pretending 
to  respect  Henry  Clay  for  uttering  a  wish  that  it  might  sometime,  in  some 
peaceful  way,  come  to  an  end.  The  Democratic  policy  in  regard  to  that 
institution  will  not  tolerate  the  merest  breath,  the  slightest  hint,  of  the 
least  degree  of  wrong  about  it. 

Besides  the  speeches  made  in  the  course  of  these  seven 
joiat  debates,  Mr.  Lincoln  delivered  at  least  fifty  other 
addresses  to  the  people,  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  during 
the  canvass,  everywhere  expounding  his  views  and  de- 
claring his  sentiments  with  the  same  frankness  and  man- 
liness. The  chief  interest  of  the  contest,  however,  cen- 
tred in  their  joint  debates,  and  with  every  succeed- 
ing encounter  the  feeling  in  the  State,  and  through- 
out the  country,  became  more  intense.  As  the  day 
for  final  decision  approached,  Illinois  fairly  blazed 
with  the  excitement.  While  Mr.  Douglas  fully  sus- 
tained his  previous  reputation,  and  justified  the  estimate 
his  friends  had  placed  upon  his  abilities,  he  labored  un- 
der the  comparative  disadvantage  of  being  much  better 
known  to  the  country  at  large  than  was  his  antagonist 
During  his  long  public  career,  people  had  become  par 
tially  accustomed  to  his  manner  of  presenting  arguments 
and  enforcing  them.  The  novelty  and  freshness  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  addresses,  on  the  other  hand,  the  homeliness 
and  force  of  his  illustrations,  their  wonderful  pertinence, 
his  exhaustless  humor,  his  confidence  in  his  own  re- 
sources, engendered  by  his  firm  belief  in  the  justice  of 
the  cause  he  so  ably  advocated,  never  once  rising,  how- 
ever, to  the  point  of  arrogance  or  superciliousness,  fast- 
ened upon  him  the  eyes  of  the  people  everj^where,  friends 
and  opponents  alike.  It  was  not  strange  that  more  than 
once,  during  the  course  of  the  unparalleled  excitement 


76  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

which  marked  this  canvass,  Mr.  Douglas  should  have 
been  thrown  off  his  guard  by  the  singular  self-possession 
displayed  by  his  antagonist,  and  by  the  imperturbable  firm- 
ness with  which  he  maintained  and  defended  a  posi- 
tion once  assumed.  The  unassuming  confidence  which 
marked  Mr.  Lincoln's  conduct  was  early  imparted  to  his 
upporters,  and  each  succeeding  encounter  added  largely 
to  the  number  of  his  friends,  until  they  began  to  indulge 
the  hope  that  a  triumph  might  be  secured  in  spite  of  the 
adverse  circumstances  under  which  the  struggle  was  com- 
menced. And  so  it  would  have  been,  had  party  lines 
been  more  strictly  drawn.  But  the  action  of  Mr.  Doug- 
las with  reference  to  the  Lecompton  Constitution  when  it 
was  before  the  United  States  Senate,  and  the  bitter  hos- 
tility of  the  southern  wing  of  the  Democratic  party  to 
wards  him,  had  led  very  many  Republicans,  and  some  of 
uigh  consideration  and  influence  in  other  States,  to  favor 
bis  return  to  the  Senate.  They  deemed  this  due  to  the 
seal  and  efficiency  with  which  he  had  resisted  the  attempt 
Vo  force  slavery  into  Kansas  against  the  will  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  as  important  in  encouraging  other  Democratic 
leaders  to  imitate  the  example  of  Douglas  in  throwing  off* 
the  yoke  of  the  slaveholding  aristocracy.  This  feeling 
proved  to  be  of  much  weight  against  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the 
canvass. 

In  the  election  which  took  place  on  November  2d,  the 
popular  vote  stood  as  follows : 

Republican  .   126,084 

Douglas  Democrat 121,940 

Lecompton  Democrat 5,091 

Mr.  Lincoln,  therefore,  had  the  people  been  permitted 
to  decide  the  question  directly,  would  have  been  returned 
to  the  Senate,  since  he  had  a  plurality  of  four  thousand 
one  hundred  and  forty- four  votes  over  Mr.  Douglas ;  but 
the  State  legislature  was  the  tribunal  that  was  to  pass 
finally  upon  it;  and  there,  fortunately  for  the  country, 
as  the  future  showed,  but  unfortunately  for  Mr.  Lincoln 


State  Papers  of  Abraham   Lincoln.  77 

at  that  time,  the  Democrats  had  secured  an  advantage,  by 
means  of  an  unfair  districting  of  tho  State,  which  it  was 
impossible  to  overcome.  Notwithstanding  the  immense 
gains  made  by  the  Republicans,  their  opponents  had,  in 
the  upper  branch  of  this  body,  fourteen  members  to  their 
eleven,  while  in  the  lower  House  these  two  parties  stood 
forty  Democrats  to  thirty-rive  Republicans.  This  state 
of  affairs  secured  Mr.  Douglas  a  re-election,  although  the 
fact  that  he  was  fairly  beaten  on  the  popular  vote,  robben 
his  triumph  of  much  of  its  lustre.  An  overruling  Prov 
idence,  the  workings  of  which  can  now  be  clearly  traced, 
but  which  were  then  inscrutable,  by  securing  this  result, 
ultimately  gave  the  nation  for  its  chief  magistrate  the 
man  best  fitted  to  carry  it  saMy  through  the  most  trying 
period  of  its  history. 


78  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 


CHAPTER  III. 

MR.   LINCOLN  AND  THE   PRESIDENCY. 

The  Campaign  of  1859  in  Ohio. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Speeches  at  Columbia 
and  Cincinnati. — His  Visit  to  the  East. — In  New  Yoke  Cfty. — Tni 
great  Speech  at  Cooper  Institute. — Me.  Lincoln  Nominated  fob 
the  Presidency. — His  Eleotion. 

CnEERFULLY  resigning  himself  to  the  fortunes  of  politi- 
cal warfare,  Mr.  Lincoln,  upon  the  close  of  this  canvass, 
returned  to  the  practice  of  his  profession.  But  he  was 
not  long  allowed  to  remain  in  retirement.  In  the  autumn 
of  1859  the  Democrats  of  Ohio  nominated  Mr.  Pugh  as 
their  candidate  for  governor,  and  to  repay  the  fidelity 
with  which  he  had  followed  his  standard,  as  well  as  in 
the  hope  of  securing  important  advantages  for  the  democ- 
racy, Mr.  Douglas  was  enlisted  in  the  canvass.  The 
Republicans  at  once  appealed  to  Mr.  Lincoln  to  come  to 
their  assistance.  He  promptly  responded  to  the  invita- 
tion to  meet  his  eld  antagonist,  and  more  than  sustained 
his  great  reputation  by  two  speeches,  one  delivered  at 
Columbus  and  the  other  at  Cincinnati.  Not  fully  satis 
fied  with  the  position  in  which  the  close  of  the  canvass  in 
Illinois  had  left  his  favorite  doctrine  of  Popular  Sover- 
eignty, Mr.  Douglas  had  secured  the  insertion  in  Harper' s 
Magazine  of  an  elaborate  and  carefully  prepared  artide 
explaining  his  views  at  length.  Mr.  Lincoln's  speech  at 
Columbus  was  a  most  masterly  review  of  this  paper. 
After  replying  briefly  to  the  identically  stale  charges 
which  Mr.  Douglas  had  so  often  repeated  during  the  can- 
vass in  Illinois,  and  which  he  had  reiterated  in  a  speech 
delivered  at  Columbus  a  few  days  previously,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln addressed  himself  to  the  task  he  had  in  hand,  as  fol- 
lows : — 

The  Republican  party,  as  I  understand  its  principles  and  policy,  believe 
that  there  is  great  danger  of  the  institution  of  slavery  being  spread  out 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  79 

and  extended,  until  it  is  ultimately  made  alike  lawful  in  ail  the  States  of 
this  Union  ;  so  believing,  to  prevent  that  inciden'al  and  ultimate  nonsuta, 
mation,  is  the  original  and  chief  purpose  of  the  Republican  organization. 
I  say  "  chief  purpose"  of  the  Republican  organization  ;  for  it  is  certainly 
true  that  if  the  National  House  shall  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Republicans, 
they  will  have  to  attend  to  all  the  other  matters  of  national  house-keep- 
ing as  well  as  this.  The  chief  and  real  purpose  of  the  Republican  part? 
is  eminently  conservative.  It  proposes  nothing  save  and  except  to  restore 
this  Government  to  its  original  tone  in  regard  to  this  element  of  slavery, 
and  there  to  maintain  it,  looking  for  no  further  change  in  reference  to  it 
than  that  which  the  original  framers  of  the  Government  themselves  ex- 
pected and  looked  forward  to. 

The  chief  danger  to  this  purpose  of  the  Republican  party  is  not  just 
now  the  revival  of  the  African  slave-trade,  or  the  passage  of  a  Congres- 
sional slave-code,  or  the  declaring  of  a  second  Dred  Scott  decision,  making 
slavery  lawful  in  all  the  States.  These  are  not  pressing  as  just  now. 
They  are  not  quite  ready  yet.  The  authors  of  these  measures  know  that 
we  are  too  strong  for  them ;  but  they  will  be  upon  us  in  due  time,  and  we 
will  be  grappling  with  them  hand  to  hand,  if  they  are  not  now  headed  ofl. 
They  are  not  now  the  chief  danger  to  the  purpose  of  the  Republican 
organization;  but  the  most  imminent  danger  that  now  threatens  that  pur* 
pose  is  that  insidious  Douglas  Popular  Sovereignty.  This  is  the  uiinei 
and  sapper.  While  it  does  not  propose  to  revive  the  African  slave-trade, 
nor  to  pas<  a  slave- code,  nor  to  make  a  second  Dred  Scott  decision,  it  ia 
preparing  us  for  the  onslaught  and  charge  of  these  ultimate  enemies  when 
they  shall  be  ready  to  come  on,  and  the  word  of  command  for  them  to 
advance  shall  be  given.  I  say  this  Douglas  Popular  Sovereignty — for 
there  is  a  broad  distinction,  as  I  now  understand  it,  between  that  article 
and  a  genuine  Popular  Sovereignty. 

I  believe  there  is  a  genuine  popular  sovereignty.  I  think  a  definition 
of  genuine  popular  sovereignty,  in  the  abstract,  would  be  about  this:/ 
That  each  man  shall  do  precisely  as  he  pleases  with  himself,  Mid  with  ah* 
those  things  which  exclusively  concern  him.  Applied  to  Government,! 
this  principle  would  be,  that  a  General  Government  shall  do  all  those 
things  which  pertain  to  it,  and  all  the  local  Governments  shall  do  pre- 
cisely as  they  please  in  respect  to  those  matters  which  exclusively  concern 
them.  I  understand  that  this  Government  of  the  United  States,  under 
which  we  live,  is  based  upon  this  principle ;  and  I  am  misunderstood  if 
it  is  supposed  that  I  have  any  war  to  make  upon  that  principle. 

Now,  what  is  Judge  Douglas's  Popular  Sovereignty  ?  It  is,  as  a  prin- 
ciple, nc  other  than  that,  if  one  man  chooses  to  make  a  s?*ve  of  another 
man,  neither  that  other  man  nor  anybody  else  has  a  right  to  object 
Applied  in  Government,  as  he  seeks  to  apply  it,  it  is  this :  If,  in  a  new 
Territory  into  which  a  few  people  are  beginning  to  enter  for  the  purpose 
of  making  their  homes,  they  choose  to  either  exclude  slavery  from  their 


80  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

limits  or  to  establish  it  there,  however  one  or  the  other  may  affect  the 
persons  to  be  enslaved,  or  the  infinitely  greater  number  of  persons  who 
are  afterward  to  inhabit  that  Territory,  or  the  other  members  of  the  fami- 
lies of  communities,  of  which  they  are  but  an  incipieut  member,  or  tho 
general  head  of  the  family  of  States,  as  parent  of  all — however  their  action 
may  affect  one  or  the  other  of  these,  there  is  no  power  or  right  to  inter- 
fere.    That  is  Douglas's  Popular  Sovereignty  applied. 

ile  iias  a  good  deal  of  trouble  with  Popular  Sovereignty.     His  explana 
*nn  explanatory  of  explanations  explained  are  interminable.     The  most 
lengthy,  and,  as  I  suppose,  the  most  maturely  considered  of  his  long  serieg 
of  explanations,  is  his  great  essay  in  Harper's  Magazine. 

This  exordium  was  followed  by  a  speech  which  will 
rank  among  the  ablest  efforts  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  In  an 
argument  in  which  great  sarcasm  and  humor  were  charac- 
teristically intermingled,  he  thoroughly  exposed  the 
fallacy  of  the  positions  taken  by  Mr.  Douglas,  and  in 
conclusion,  after  again  warning  his  hearers  against  the 
)osidious  dangers  of  this  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty, 
r/ud : — 

Did  you  ever,  five  years  Ago,  hear  of  anybody  in  the  worl£  «»ying  that 
*'JG  negro  had  no  share  m  the  Declaration  of  National  Independence ;  that 
»t  did  not  mean  negroes  at  all ;  and  when  "  all  men  "  were  spoken  of, 
negroes  were  not  included  ? 

I  am  satisfied  *hat  five  years  ago  that  proposition  was  not  put  upon 
naper  by  any  living  being  anywhere.  I  have  been  unable  at  any  time 
to  find  a  man  in  an  audience  who  would  declare  that  he  had  ever  known 
of  anybody  saying  so  five  years  ago.  But  last  year  there  was  not  a 
Douglas  popular  sovereign  in  Illinois  who  did  not  say  it.  Is  there  one  in 
Ohio  but  declares  his  firm  belief  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  did 
not  mean  negroes  at  all  ?  I  do  not  know  how  this  is ;  I  have  not  been 
Uere  much ;  but  I  presume  you  are  very  much  alike  everywhere.  Then 
I  suppose  that  all  now  express  the  belief  that  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence never  did  mean  negroes.  I  call  upon  one  of  them  to  say  that 
he  said  it  five  years  ago. 

If  you  think  that  now,  and  did  not  think  it  then,  tne  next  thing  that 
strikes  me  is  to  remark  that  there  has  been  a  change  wrought  in  you,  and 
a  very  significant  change  it  is,  being  no  less  than  changing  the  negro,  in 
your  estimation,  from  the  rank  of  a  man  to  that  of  a  brute.  They  at  e 
taking  him  down,  and  placing  him,  when  spoken  of,  among  reptiles  and 
crocodiles,  as  Judge  Douglas  himself  expresses  it. 

Is  not  this  change  wrought  in  your  mmas  a  very  important  change  t 
Public  opinion  in  this  country  is  every  thing.  In  a  nation  like  ours,  this 
popular  sovereignty  and  squatter  sovereignty  have  already  wrought  * 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  81 

change  in  the  public  mind  to  the  extent  I  have  stated.     There  is  no  nan 
in  this  crow^  who  can  contradict  it. 

Now,  if  you  are  opposed  to  slavery  honestly,  as  much  as  anybody,  1 
ask  you  to  note  that  fact,  and  the  like  of  which  is  to  follow,  to  oe 
plastered  on,  layer  after  layer,  until  very  soon  you  are  prepared  to 
deal  with  the  negro  everywhere  as  with  the  brute.  If  public  sen- 
timent has  not  been  debauched  already  to  this  point,  a  new  turn  of 
the  screw  in  that  direction  is  all  that  is  wanting;  and  this  is  con- 
stantly being  done  by  the  teachers  of  this  insidious  popular  sovereignty. 
You  need  but  one  or  two  turns  further  until  your  minds,  now  ripeuing 
tinder  these  teachings,  will  be  ready  for  all  these  things,  and  you  will  r 
ceive  and  support,  or  submit  to,  the  slave-trade,  revived  with  all  ii? 
horrors,  a  slave-code  enforced  in  our  Territories,  and  anew  Dred  Scott 
decision  to  bring  slavery  up  into  the  very  heart  of  the  free  North.  This, 
[  must  say,  is  but  carrying  out  those  words  prophetically  spoken  by  Mr. 
Clay,  many,  many  years  ago — I  believe  more  than  thirty  years,  when  he 
told  an  audience  that  if  they  would  repress  all  tendencies  to  liberty  and 
ultimate  emancipation,  th  3y  must  go  back  to  the  era  of  our  independence, 
and  muzzle  the  cannon  which  thundered  its  annual  joyous  return  on  the 
Fourth  of  July ;  they  must  blow  out  the  moral  lights  around  us ;  they 
must  penetrate  the  human  soul  and  eradicate  the  love  of  liberty ;  but  until 
they  did  these  things,  and  others  eloquently  enumerated  by  him,  they 
could  not  repress  all  tendencies  to  ultimate  emancipation. 

I  ask  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  a  pre-eminent  degree  these  popular 
sovereigns  are  at  this  work;  blowing  out  the  moral  lights  around  us; 
teaching  that  the  negro  is  no  longer  a  man,  but  a  brute ;  that  the  Declara- 
tion has  nothing  to  do  with  him ;  that  he  ranks  with  the  crocodile  and 
the  reptile ;  that  man,  with  body  and  soul,  is  a  matter  of  dollars  and 
cents.  I  suggest  to  this  portion  of  the  Ohio  Republicans,  or  Democrats, 
if  there  be  any  present,  the  serious  consideration  of  this  fact,  that  there  is 
now  going  on  among  you  a  steady  process  of  debauching  publio  opinion 
on  this  subject.     With  this,  my  friends,  I  bid  you  adieu. 

Ill  his  speech  at  Cincinnati,  Mr.  Lincoln  addressed  him- 
self particularly  to  the  Kentuckians  whom  he  supposed 
to  be  among  his  hearers,  and  after  advising  them  to  nom- 
inate Mr.  Douglas  as  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency 
at  the  approaching  Charleston  Convention,  showed  them 
bow  "by  so  doing  they  would  the  most  surely  protect  their 
cherished  institution  of  slavery.  In  the  course  of  his 
argument  he  expressed  this  shrewd  opinion,  which  may 
now  be  classed  as  a  prophecy  : — 

It  ia  but  my  opinion;  I  give  it  to  you  without  a  fee.     It  is  my  opinion 


82  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

that  it  is  for  you  to  take  him  [Mr.  Douglas]  or  be  defeated ;  and  that  ii 
you  do  take  him,  you  may  he  beaten.  Von  will  surety  be  beaten  if  you 
do  uottake  him.  We,  the  Republicans  and  others  forming  the  opposition 
of  the  country,  intend  to  "  stand  by  our  guns,"  to  be  patient  and  firm,  and 
in  the  long  run  to  heat  you,  whether  you  take  him  or  not.  We  know  that 
before  we  fairly  beat  you,  we  have  to  beat  you  both  together.  We  knotr 
that  you  are  M  all  of  a  feather,'-  and  that  we  have  to  beat  you  altogether, 
and  we  expect  to  do  it.  We  don't  intend  to  be  very  impatient  about  it. 
We  mean  to  be  as  deliberate  and  calm  about  it  as  it  is  possible  to  be,  bufr 
as  firm  and  resolved  as  it  is  possible  for  men  to  be.  When  we  do  as  we 
say,  beat  you,  you  perhaps  want  to  know  what  we  will  do  with  you. 
}  I  will  tell  you,  so  far  as  I  am  authorized  to  speak  for  the  opposition, 
what  we  mean  to  do  with  you.  We  mean  to  treat  you,  as  near  as  we 
possibly  can,  as  Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Madison  treated  you.  We 
mean  to  leave  you  alone,  and  in  no  way  to  interfere  with  your  institution  ; 
to  abide  by  all  and  every  compromise  of  the  Constitution,  and,  in  a  word, 
ooming  back  to  the  original  proposition,  to  treat  you,  so  far  as  degener- 
ated men  (if  we  have  degenerated)  may,  according  to  the  examples  ol 
those  noble  fathers — Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Madison.  We  mean  to 
remember  that  you  are  as  good  as  we;  that  there  is  no  difference  between 
us  other  than  the  difference  of  circumstances.  We  mean  to  recognize  and 
bear  in  mind  always  that  you  have  as  good  hearts  in  your  bosoms  as  other 
people,  or  as  we  claim  to  have,  and  treat  you  accordingly.  We  mean  to 
marry  your  girls  when  we  have  a  chance — the  white  ones,  I  mean,  and  I 
have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  once  did  have  a  chance  in  that  way. 
I  have  told  you  what  we  mean  to  do.  I  want  to  know,  nowT,  when 
that  thing  takes  place,  what  do  you  mean  to  do?  I  often  hear  it  inti- 
mated that  you  mean  to  divide  the  Union  whenever  a  Republican,  or  any 
thing  like  it,  is  elected  President  of  the  United  States.  [A  voice — "  That 
is  so."]  "  That  is  so,"  one  of  them  says ;  I  wonder  if  he  is  a  Kentuckian  ? 
[A  voice — "  He  is  a  Douglas  man."]  Well,  then,  I  want  to  know  what 
you  are  going  to  do  with  your  half  of  it?  Are  you  going  to  split  the 
Ohio  down  through,  and  push  your  half  off  a  piece  ?  Or  are  you  going  to 
keep  it  right  alongside  of  as  outrageous  fellows  ?  Or  are  you  going  to 
build  up  a  wall  some  way  between  your  country  and  ours,  by  which  that 
movable  property  of  yours  can't  come  over  here  any  more,  to  the  danger 
of  your  losing  it?  Do  you  think  you  can  better  yourselves  on  that  sub- 
ject, by  leaving  us  here  under  no  obligation  whatever  to  return  those 
specimens  of  your  movable  property  that  come  hither?  You  have  divided 
the  Union  because  we  would  not  do  right  with  you,  as  you  think,  upon, 
that  subject;  when  we  cease  to  be  under  obligations  to  do  any  thing  for 
you,  low  much  better  off  do  you  think  you  will  be  ?  Will  you  make  war 
upon  us  and  kill  us  all  ?  Why,  gentlemen,  I  think  you  are  as  gallant  and 
as  brave  men  as  live ;  that  you  can  fight  as  bravely  in  a  good  cause,  mac 
foi  man,  as  any  other  people  living;  that  you  have  shown  yourselves 


State  Papers  oj?  Abraham  Lincoln.  88 

capablo  of  this  upon  various  occasions;  but,  man  for  man,  you  are  not 
better  than  we  are,  and  there  are  not  so  many  of  you  as  there  are  of  w. 
You  will  never  make  much  of  a  hand  at  whipping  us.  If  we  were  fewer 
in  numbers  than  you,  I  think  that  you  could  whip  us;  if  we  were  equal, 
it  would  likely  be  a  drawn  battle  ;  but,  being  inferior  in  numbers,  you  wU 
make  nothing  by  attempting  to  master  us. 

But  perhaps  I  have  addressed  myself  as  long,  or  longer,  to  the  Ken- 
tuckians  than  1  ought  to  have  done,  inasmuch  as  I  have  said  that  what- 
ever coarse  you  take,  we  intend  in  the  end  to  beat  you. 

The  rest  of  this  address  was  mainly  occupied  with  a 
discussion  of  the  policy  which  the  Republican  party 
should  pursue  in  the  Presidential  campaign  then  about  to 
open.  The  following  passage  from  this  part  of  the  speech 
is  among  the  most  notable  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  many  noble 
utterances : 

In  order  to  beat  our  opponents,  I  think  we  want  and  must  have  a 
national  policy  in  regard  to  the  institution  of  slavery,  that  acknowledge* 
and  deals  with  that  institution  as  being  wrong.  Whoever  desires  the  pre- 
vention of  the  spread  of  slavery,  and  the  nationalization  of  that  institution, 
yields  all  when  he  yields  to  any  policy  that  either  recognizes  slavery  &f 
being  right,  or  as  being  an  indifferent  thing.  Nothing  will  make  you  sue 
cessful  but  setting  up  a  policy  which  shall  treat  the  thing  as  being  wrong 
When  I  say  this,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  this  General  Government  it 
charged  with  the  duty  of  redressing  or  preventing  all  the  wrongs  in  the 
world;  but  do  think  that  it  is  charged  with  preventing  and  redressing 
all  wrongs  which  are  wrongs  to  itself.  This  Government  is  expressly 
charged  with  the  duty  of  providing  for  the  general  welfare.  "We  believe 
that  the  spreading  out  and  perpetuity  of  the  institution  of  slavery  impairs 
the  general  welfare.  We  believe — nay,  we  know,  that  that  is  the  only 
thing  that  has  ever  threatened  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union  itself.  The 
only  thing  which  has  ever  menaced  the  destruction  of  the  government 
under  which  we  live,  is  this  very  thing. 

To  repress  this  thing,  we  think,  is  providing  for  the  general  welfare. 
Our  friends  in  Kentucky  differ  from  us.  We  need  not  make  our  argu- 
ment for  them,  but  we  who  think  it  is  wrong  in  all  its  relations,  or  in 
some  of  them  at  least,  must  decide  as  to  our  own  actions,  and  our  owa 
course,  upon  our  own  judgment. 

I  say  that  we  must  not  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  th« 
States  where  it  exists,  because  the  Constitution  forw^o  it,  and  the  general 
welfare  does  not  require  us  to  do  so.  We  must  not  withhold  an  efficient 
Fugitive  Slave  law,  because  the  Constitution  requires  us,  as  I  understaud 
it,  not  to  withhold  such  a  law.  But  we  must  prevent  the  outspreading 
of  the  institution,  because  neither  the  Constitution  nor  the  general  welfare 


84  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

requires  us  to  extend  it.  We  must  prevent  the  revival  of  the  Africau  blave 
trade,  aud  the  enacting  by  Congress  of  a  Territorial  slave-code.  "We  must 
prevent  each  of  these  things  being  done  by  either  Congresses  or  courts. 
The  people  of  these  United  States  are  the  rightful  masters  of  both  Con- 
gresses and  courts,  not  to  overthrow  the  Constitution,  but  to  overthrow 
the  men  who  pervert  the  Constitution. 

To  do  these  things  we  must  employ  instrumentalities.  We  must  hold 
conventions ;  we  must  adopt  platforms,  if  we  conform  to  ordinary  custom ; 
we  must  nominate  candidates,  and  we  must  carry  elections.  In  all  these 
things,  I  think  that  we  ought  to  keep  in  view  our  real  purpose,  and  in 
none  do  any  thing  that  stands  adverse  to  our  purpose.  If  we  shall  adopt 
a  platform  that  fails  to  recognize  or  express  our  purpose,  or  elect  a  man 
that  declares  himself  inimical  to  our  purpose,  we  not  only  take  nothing 
by  our  success,  but  we  tacitly  admit  that  we  act  upon  no  other  principle 
than  a  desire  to  have  "  the  loaves  and  fishes,"  by  which,  in  the  end,  our 
apparent  success  is  really  an  injury  to  us. 

During  the  latter  part  of  that  year  (1859)  Mr.  Lincoln  also 
visited  Kansas,  and  was  greeted  with  enthusiastic  cordial 
ity  "by  the  people,  whose  battles  he  had  fought  with  such 
masterly  ability  and  skill.  In  February,  1860,  in  response 
to  an  invitation  from  the  Young  Men's  Republican  Club, 
he  came  to  New  York,  to  deliver  an  address  upon  some 
topic  appropriate  to  the  crisis  which  it  was  evident  was  ap- 
proaching. Tuesday  evening,  February  27th,  was  the  hour, 
and  Cooper  Institute  was  the  place,  selected  for  the  first 
appearance  of  the  future  President  before  the  New  York 
public  ;  and  a  curiosity  to  see  the  man  who  had  so  ably 
combated  the  "Little  Giant"  of  the  West,  as  well  as  an 
earnest  desire  to  hear  an  expression  of  his  views  upon  the 
questions  which  were  then  so  rapidly  developing  in  im- 
portance, and  beginning  to  agitate  the  public  mind  so 
deeply,  filled  the  large  hall  named  to  overflowing,  with 
an  audience  which  comprised  many  ladies.  William 
Cullen  Bryant  presided,  assisted  by  numerous  prominent 
politicians.  He  presented  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  audience 
with  a  few  appropriate  remarks.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  quite 
warmly  received,  and  delivered  an  address  which  at  times 
excited  uncontrollable  enthusiasm.  It  was  at  once  accepted 
as  one  of  the  most  important  contributions  to  the  current 
political  literature  of  the  day,  and  now  stands  among  the 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  85 

enduring  monuments  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  memory.     We  ap- 
pend it  in  full : 

Mb.  President  and  Fellow-Citizens  of  New  York: — The  facts  with 
which  I  shall  deal  this  evening  are  mainly  old  and  familiar;  nor  is  thero 
wiy  thing  new  in  the  general  use  I  shall  make  of  them.     If  there  shall  be 
,  diiy  novelty,  it  will  be  in  the  mode  of  presenting  the  facts,  and  the  infer- 
ences and  observations  following  that  presentation. 

In  iiis  speech  last  autumn,  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  as  reported  in  the  "New 
York  Times,1'  Senator  Douglas  said: 

"  Our  fathers,  when  they  framed  the  Government  under  which  we  Zi««, 
understood  this  question  just  as  well,  and  even  oetter  than  we  do  now" 

I  fully  indorse  this,  and  I  adopt  it  as  a  text  for  this  discourse.  I  so  adopt 
tt  because  it  furnishes  a  precise  and  an  agreed  starting-point  for  a  discus 
iion  between  Republicans  and  that  wing  of  the  Democracy  headed  bj 
Senator  Douglas.  It  simply  leaves  the  inquiry:  "  What  was  the  under 
standing  those  fathers  had  of  the  question  mentioned  ?" 

What  is  the  frame  of  Government  under  which  we  live? 

The  answer  must  be :  "  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States."  Thai 
Constitution  consists  of  the  original,  framed  in  1787  (and  under  which  th< 
present  government  first  went  into  operation),  and  twelve  subsequentlj 
framed  amendments,  the  first  ten  of  which  were  framed  in  1789. 

Who  were  our  fathers  that  framed  the  Constitution  ?  I  suppose  the 
"  thirty-nine "  who  signed  the  original  instrument  may  be  fairly  called 
our  fathers  who  framed  that  part  of  the  present  Government.  It  is  almost 
exactly  true  to  say  they  framed  it,  and  it  is  altogether  true  to  say  they  fair- 
ly represented  the  opinion  and  sentiment  of  the  whole  nation  at  that  time. 

Their  names,  being  familiar  to  nearly  all.  and  accessible  to  quite  all, 
Deed  not  now  be  repeated. 

I  take  these  "thirty-nine,"  for  the  present,  as  being  our  "fathers  who 
framed  the  Government  under  which  we  live." 

What  is  the  question  which,  according  to  the  text,  those  fathers  under 
stood  "just  as  well,  and  even  better  than  we  do  now  ?" 

It  is  this :  Does  the  proper  division  of  local  from  federal  authority,  01 
ai  y  thing  in  the  Constitution,  forbid  our  Federal  Government  to  control 
a*  to  slavery  in  our  Federal  Territories  ? 

Upon  this  Senator  Douglas  holds  the  affirmative,  and  Republican*  tb« 
negative.  This  affirmation  and  denial  form  an  issue,  and  this  issue — thi» 
question — is  precisely  what  the  text  declares  our  fathers  understood  "  bet- 
ter than  we." 

Let  us  now  inquire  whether  the  "thirty-nine,"  or  any  of  them, 
acted  upon  this  question ;  and  if  they  did,  how  they  acted  upon  it — how 
they  ei pressed  that  better  understanding? 

In  1784,  three  years' before  the  Constitution —the  United  States  tlwn 
e  v»ing  the  Northwestern  Territory,  and  no  other— the  Congress  of  the  Con 


86  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

federation  had  before  them  (ho  question  of  prohibiting  slavery  in  that  Ter- 
ritory ;  and  fonr  of  the  "thirty  nine,"  who  afterward  framed  the  Consti- 
tution, were  in  that  Congress  and  voted  on  that  question.  Of  these, 
Roger  Sherman,  Thomas  Mifflin,  and  Hugh  "Williamson  voted  for  the  pro- 
hibition, thus  showing  that,  in  their  understanding,  no  line  dividing  local 
from  Federal  authority,  nor  any  thing  else,  properly  forbade  the  Federal 
Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  Federal  territory.  The  other  of 
the  four—  James  M'Henry — voted  against  the  prohibition,  showing  that. 
for  some  cause,  he  thought  it  improper  to  vote  for  it. 

In  1787,  still  before  the  Constitution,  but  while  the  Convention  was  in 
session  framing  it,  and  while  the  Northwestern  Territory  still  was  the  only 
territory  owned  by  the  United  States,  the  same  question  of  prohibiting 
slavery  in  the  territory  again  came  before  the  Congress  of  the  Confedera- 
tion ;  and  two  more  of  the  "  thirty-nine  "  who  afterward  signed  the  Con- 
stitution were  in  that  Congress,  and  voted  on  the  question.  They  were 
William  Blount  and  William  Few ;  and  they  both  voted  for  the  prohibi- 
tion— thus  showing  that,  in  their  understanding,  no  line  dividing  local 
from  Federal  authority,  nor  any  thing  else,  properly  forbade  the  Federal 
Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  Federal  territory.  This  time  the 
prohibition  became  a  law,  being  part  of  what  is  now  well  known  as  the 
Ordinance  of  '87. 

The  question  of  Federal  control  of  slavery  in  the  territories,  seems  not 
to  have  been  directly  before  the  Convention  which  framed  the  original 
Constitution  ;  and  hence  it  is  not  recorded  that  the  "  thirty-nine,"  or  any 
of  them,  while  engaged  on  that  instrument,  expressed  any  opinion  on  that 
precise  question. 

In  1789,  by  the  first  Congress  which  sat  under  the  Constitution,  an  act 
was  passed  to  enforce  the  Ordinance  of  '87,  including  the  prohibition  of 
slavery  in  the  Northwestern  Territory.  The  bill  for  this  act  was  reported 
by  one  of  the  "  thirty -nine,"  Thomas  Fitzsimmons,  then  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  from  Pennsylvania.  It  went  through  all  it? 
stages  without  a  word  of  opposition,  and  finally  passed  both  branches  with 
out  yea,**  and  nays,  which  is  equivalent  to  a  unanimous  passage.  In  this 
Congress  there  were  sixteen  of  the  thirty -nine  fathers  who  framed  the 
original  Constitution.  They  were  John  Langdon,  Nicholas  Gilnian,  Wm. 
8.  Johnson,  Roger  Sherman,  Robert  Morris,  Thos.  Fitzsimmons,  William 
few,  Abraham  Baldwin,  Rufus  King,  William  Paterson,  George  Clymer, 
Richard  Bassett,  George  Read,  Pierce  Butler,  Daniel  Carroll,  James  Madi- 
son. 

This  shows  that,  in  their  understanding,  no  line  dividing  local  from  Fed- 
eral authority,  nor  any  thing  in  the  Constitution,  properly  forbade  Con- 
gress to  prohibit  slavery  in  the  Federal  territory ;  else  both  their  fidelity 
to  correct  principles,  and  their  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  would 
have  constrained  them  to  oppose  the  prohibition. 

Again:  George  Washington,  another  of  the  "thirty-nine,"  was  then 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  87 

President  of  the  United  States,  and,  as  such,  approved  and  signed  the  bill ; 
thus  completing  its  validity  as  a  law,  and  thus  showing  that,  in  his  under- 
standing, no  line  dividing  local  from  Federal  authority,  nor  any  thing  in 
the  Constitution,  forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to  slavery 
in  Federal  territory. 

No  great  while  after  the  adoption  of  the  original  Constitution,  North 
Carolina  ceded  to  tl  e  Federal  Government  the  country  now  constituting 
the  State  of  Tennessee;  and,  a  few  years  later,  Georgia  ceded  that  which 
now  constitutes  the  States  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama.  In  both  deeds  of 
cession  it  was  made  a  condition  by  the  ceding  States  that  the  Federal 
] Government  should  not  prohibit  slavery  in  the  ceded  country.  Besides 
jthis,  slavery  was  then  actually  in  the  ceded  country.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, Congress,  on  taking  charge  of  these  countries,  did  not  abso- 
lutely prohibit  slavery  within  them.  But  they  did  interfere  with  it  —  f<tke 
control  of  it — even  there,  to  a  certain  extent.  In  1798,  Congress  organ- 
ized the  Territory  of  Mississippi.  In  the  act  of  organization,  they  prohib- 
ited the  bringing  of  slaves  into  the  Territory,  from  any  place  without  the 
United  States,  by  fine,  and  giving  freedom  to  slaves  so  brought.  This  act 
passed  both  branches  of  Congress  without  yeas  and  nays.  In  that  Con- 
gress were  three  of  the  "  thirty-nine"  who  framed  the  original  Constitu- 
tion. They  were  John  Langdon,  George  Read,  and  Abraham  Baldwin. 
They  all,  probably,  voted  for  it.  Certainly  they  would  have  placed  their 
opposition  to  it  upon  record,  if,  in  their  understanding,  any  line  dividing 
tocal  from  Federal  authority,  or  any  thing  in  the  Constitution,  properly  for- 
bade the  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  Federal  territory. 

In  1803,  the  Federal  Government  purchased  the  Louisiana  country. 
Our  former  territorial  acquisitions  came  from  certain  of  our  own  States ; 
out  this  Louisiana  country  was  acquired  from  a  foreign  nation.  In  1804, 
Congress  gave  a  territorial  organization  to  that  part  of  it  which  now  con- 
stitutes the  State  of  Louisiana.  New  Orleans,  lying  within  that  part,  wa» 
an  old  and  comparatively  large  city.  There  were  other  considerable 
towns  and  settlements,  and  slavery  was  extensively  and  thoroughly  inter- 
mingled with  the  people.  Congress  did  not,  in  the  Territorial  Act,  pro- 
libit  slavery;  but  they  did  interfere  with  it — take  control  of  it— in  a 
i  lore  marked  and  extensive  way  than  they  did  in  the  case  of  Mississippi. 
Hie  substance  of  the  provision  therein  made  in  relation  to  slaves  was : 

First.  That  no  slave  should  be  imported  into  the  territory  from  foreign 
p  arts. 

Second.  That  no  slave  should  be  carried  into  it  who  had  been  imported 
itito  the  United  States  since  the  first  day  of  May,  1798. 

Third.  That  no  slave  should  be  carried  into  it  except  by  the  owner, 
and  for  his  own  use  as  a  settler;  the  penalty  in  all  the  cases  being  a  fine 
upon  the  violator  of  the  law,  and  freedom  to  the  slave. 

This  act  also  was  passed  without  yeas  and  nays.  In  the  Congress 
which  passed  it,  there  were  two  of  the  u  thirty -nine."     They  were  Abra- 


88  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

ham  Baldwin  md  Jonathan  Dayton.  As  stated  in  the  case  of  Mississippi, 
it  is  provable  they  both  voted  for  it.  They  would  not  have  allowed  it  to 
pass  without  recording  their  opposition  to  it,  if,  in  their  understanding, 
it  violated  either  the  line  properly  dividing  local  from  Federal  authority, 
or  any  provision  of  the  Constitution. 

In  1819-20,  came  and  passed  the  Missouri  question.  Many  votes  were 
token,  by  yeas  and  nays,  in  both  branches  of  Congress,  upon  the  various 
phases  of  the  general  question.  Two  of  the  "  thirty-nine" — Rufus  King 
aud  Charles  Pinckney — were  members  of  that  Congress.  Mr.  King 
steadily  voted  for  slavery  prohibition  and  against  all  compromises,  while 
Mr.  Pinckney  as  steadily  voted  against  slavery  prohibition,  and  against 
all  compromises.  By  this,  Mr.  King  showed  that,  in  his  understanding, 
no  line  dividing  local  from  Federal  authority,  nor  any  thing  in  the  Consti- 
tution, was  violated  by  Congress  prohibiting  slavery  in  Federal  territory ; 
while  Mr.  Pinckney,  by  his  vote,  showed  that,  in  his  understanding,  there 
was  so  .ae  sufficient  reason  for  opposing  such  prohibition  in  that  case. 

The  cases  I  have  mentioned  are  the  only  acts  of  the  "thirty -nine,"  or 
>f  any  of  them,  upon  the  direct  issue,  which  I  have  been  able  to  discover. 
To  enumerate  the  persons  who  thus  acted,  as  being  four  in  1784,  two 
in  1787,  seventeen  in  1789,  three  in  1798,  two  in  1804,  and  two  in  1819- 
20 — there  would  be  thirty  of  them.  But  this  would  be  counting  John 
Langdon,  Roger  Sherman,  William  Few,  Rufus  King,  and  George  Read, 
each  twice,  and  Abraham  Baldwin,  three  times.  The  true  number  of 
those  of  the  "  thirty-nine  "  whom  I  have  shown  to  have  acted  upon  the 
question  which,  by  the  text,  they  understood  better  than  we,  is  twenty- 
three,  leaving  sixteen  not  shown  to  have  acted  upon  it  in  any  way. 

Here,  then,  we  have  twenty- three  out  of  our  thirty-nine  fathers  "  who 
framed  the  Government  under  which  we  live,"  who  have,  upon  their 
official  responsibility  and  their  corporal  oaths,  acted  upon  the  very  ques- 
tion which  the  text  affirms  they  "  understood  just  as  well,  and  even  bet- 
ter than  we  do  now ;"  and  twenty-one  of  them — a  clear  majority  of  the 
whole  "thirty-nine" — so  acting  upon  it  as  to  make  them  guilty  of  grcsa 
political  impropriety  and  wilful  perjury,  if,  in  their  understanding,  any 
proper  division  between  local  and  Federal  authority,  or  any  thing  in  the 
Constitution  they  had  made  themselves,  and  sworn  to  support,  forbade 
the  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  the  Federal  territories. 
Thus  the  twenty-one  acted ;  and,  as  actions  speak  louder  than  words,  so 
actions,  under  such  responsibility,  speak  still  louder. 

Two  of  the  twenty-three  voted  against  Congressional  prohibition  of 
•lavery  in  the  Federal  territories,  in  the  instances  in  winch  they  acted 
upon  the  question.  But  for  what  reasons  they  so  voted  is  not  known. 
They  may  have  done  so  because  they  thought  a  proper  division  of  local 
from  Federal  authority,  or  some  provision  or  principle  of  the  Constitution, 
■tood  in  the  way ;  or  they  may,  without  any  such  question,  have  voted 
•gainst  the  prohibition  on  what  appeared  to  them  to  be  sufficient  grounds 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  89 

of  expediency.  No  one  who  has  sworn  to  support  the  Constitution,  can 
conscientiously  vote  for  what  he  understands  to  be  an  unconstitutional 
measure,  however  expedient  he  may  think  it;  but  one  may  and  ought  to 
vote  against  a  measure  which  he  deems  constitutional,  if,  at  the  same  time, 
he  deems  it  inexpedient.  It  therefore  would  be  unsafe  to  set  down  even 
the  two  who  voted  against  the  prohibition,  as  having  done  so  because,  in 
their  understanding,  any  proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  authority, 
or  any  thing  in  the  Constitution,  forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  con- 
trol as  to  slavery  in  Federal  territory. 

The  remaining  sixteen  of  the  "  thirty-nine,"  so  far  as  I  have  discovered, 
have  left  no  record  of  their  understanding  upon  the  direct  question  of 
Federal  control  on  slavery  in  the  Federal  territories.  But  there  is  much 
reason  to  believe  that  their  understanding  upon  that  question  would  not 
have  appeared  different  from  that  of  their  twenty-three  compeers,  had  it 
been  manifested  at  all. 

For  the  purpose  of  adhering  rigidly  to  the  text,  I  have  purposely  omit- 
ted whatever  understanding  may  have  been  manifested  by  any  person, 
however  distinguished,  other  than  the  thirty-nine  fathers  who  framed  the 
original  Constitution ;  and,  for  the  same  reason,  I  have  also  omitted  whet 
ever  understanding  may  have  been  manifested  by  any  of  the  M  thirty 
nine  "  even,  on  any  other  phase  of  the  general  question  of  slavery.  If  w« 
should  look  into  their  acts  and  declarations  on  those  other  phases,  as  th« 
foreign  slave-trade,  and  the  morality  and  policy  of  slavery  generally,  it 
would  appear  to  us  that  on  the  direct  question  of  Federal  control  of  sla- 
very in  Federal  territories,  the  sixteen,  if  they  had  acted  at  all,  would 
probably  have  acted  just  as  the  twenty- three  did.  Among  that  sixteen 
were  several  of  the  most  noted  anti-slavery  men  of  those  times — as  Dr. 
Franklin,  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  Gouverneur  Morris — while  there  was 
not  one  now  known  to  have  been  otherwise,  unless  it  may  be  John  Kut- 
ledge,  of  South  Carolina. 

The  sum  of  the  whole  is,  that  of  our  thirty-nine  fathers  who  framod 
the  original  Constitution,  twenty-one — a  clear  majority  of  the  whole— 
certainly  understood  that  no  proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  au- 
thority, nor  any  part  of  the  Constitution,  forbade  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment to  control  slavery  in  the  Federal  territories ;  whilst  all  the  rest  prob- 
ably had  the  same  understanding.  Such,  unquestionably,  was  the  under- 
standing of  our  fathers  who  framed  the  original  Constitution ;  and  the 
text  affirms  that  they  understood  the  question  "  better  than  we." 

But,  so  far,  I  have  been  considering  the  understanding  of  the  question 
manifested  by  the  framers  of  the  original  Constitution.  In  and  by  the 
original  instrument,  a  mode  was  provided  for  amending  it ;  and,  as  I  have 
already  stated,  the  present  frame  of  "the  Government  under  which  we 
live  "  consists  of  that  original,  and  twelve  amendatory  articles  framed 
and  adopted  since.  Those  who  now  insist  that  Federal  control  of  slavery 
to  Federal  territories  violates  the  Constitution,  point  us  to  the  provision! 


90  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

which  they  suppose  it  thus  violates  ;  and,  as  I  understand,  they  all  III 
opon  provisions  in  these  amendatory  articles,  and  not  in  the  original  in- 
strument. The  Supreme  Court,  in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  plant  themselves 
rpon  the  fifth  amendment,  which  provides  that  no  person  shall  be  de- 
prived of  "life,  liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of  law;"  while 
Senator  Douglas  and  his  peculiar  adherents  plant  themselves  upon  the 
tenth  amendment,  providing  that  "the  powers  not  delegated  to  the 
United  States  by  the  Constitution,"  ;  are  reserved  to  the  States  respect 
ively,  or  to  the  people." 

Now,  it  so  happens  that  these  amendments  were  framed  by  the  first 
Congress  whi3h  sat  under  the  Constitution — the  identical  Congress  which 
passed  the  act  already  mentioned,  enforcing  the  prohibition  of  slavery  in 
the  Northwestern  Territory.  Not  only  was  it  the  same  Congress,  but 
tl  ey  were  the  identical  same  individual  men  who,  at  the  same  session, 
aid  at  the  same  time  within  the  session,  had  under  consideration,  and  in 
progress  toward  maturity,  these  Constitutional  amendments,  and  this  act 
prohibiting  slavery  in  all  the  territory  the  nation  then  owned.  The  Con- 
stitutional amendments  were  introduced  before,  and  passed  after  the  act 
enforcing  the  Ordinance  of  '87 ;  so  that,  during  the  whole  pendency  of 
the  act  to  enforce  the  Ordinance,  the  Constitutional  amendments  were 
also  pending. 

The  seventy-six  members  of  that  Congress,  including  sixteen  of  the 
framers  of  the  original  Constitution,  as  before  stated,  were  pre-eminently 
our  fathers  who  framed  that  part  of  "  the  Government  under  which  we 
rive,"  which  is  now  claimed  as  forbidding  the  Federal  Government  to 
control  slavery  in  the  Federal  territories. 

Is  it  not  a  little  presumptuous  in  any  one  at  this  day  to  affirm  that  the 
two  things  which  that  Congress  deliberately  framed,  and  carried  to  ma- 
turity at  the  same  time,  are  absolutely  inconsistent  with  each  other? 
And  does  not  such  affirmation  become  impudently  absurd  when  coupled 
with  the  other  affirmation  from  the  same  mouth,  that  those  who  did  the 
two  things  alleged  to  be  inconsistent,  understood  whether  they  reali 
were  inconsistent  better  than  we — better  than  he  who  affirms  that  they 
are  inconsistent  ? 

It  is  surely  safe  to  assume  that  the  thirty-nine  framers  of  the  original 
Constitution,  and  the  seventy-six  members  of  the  Congress  which  framed 
the  amendments  thereto,  t:  ken  together,  do  certainly  include  those  who 
may  be  fairly  called  "  our  fathers  who  framed  the  Government  under 
which  we  live."  And,  so  assuming,  1  defy  any  man  to  show  that  any  one 
of  them  ever,  in  his  whole  life,  declared  that,  In  his  understanding,  any 
proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  authority,  or  auy  part  of  the  Con- 
stitution, forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  the 
Federal  territories.  I  go  a  step  further.  I  defy  any  one  to  show  that  any 
living  man  in  the  whole  world  ever  did,  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century  (and  I  might  almost  sav  prior  to  the   beginning  of  the 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  91 

last  half  of  the  present  century),  declare  that,  in  his  understanding,  any 
proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  authority,  or  any  part  of  the  Consti- 
tution, forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  the 
Federal  territories.  To  those  who  now  so  declare,  I  give  not  only  *  our 
fathers  who  framed  the  Government  under  which  we  live,"  but  with  them 
all  oth#  living  men  witbin  the  century  in  which  it  was  framed,  among 
whom  to  search,  and  they  shall  not  bo  able  to  find  the  evidence  of  a  single 
man  agreeing  with  them. 

Now,  and  here,  let  me  guard  a  little  against  being  misunderstood, 
do  not  mean  to  say  we  are  bound  to  follow  implicitly  in  whatever  oui 
fathers  did.  To  do  so,  would  be  to  discard  all  the  lights  of  current  ex- 
perience^— to  reject  all  progress — all  improvement.  "What  I  do  say  is,  that 
if  we  would  supplant  the  opinions  and  policy  of  our  fathers  in  any  case, 
we  should  do  so  upon  evidence  so  conclusive,  and  argument  so  clear,  that 
even  their  great  authority,  fairly  considered  and  weighed,  cannot  stand ; 
and  most  surely  not  in  a  case  whereof  we  ourselves  declare  they  under- 
stood the  question  better  than  we. 

If  any  man  at  this  day  sincerely  believes  that  proper  division  of  local 
from  Federal  authority,  or  any  part  of  the  Constitution,  forbids  the  Federal 
Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  the  Federal  territories,  he  is  right 
to  say  so,  and  to  enforce  his  position  by  all  truthful  evidence  and  ftur 
argument  which  he  can.  But  he  has  no  right  to  mislead  others,  who 
have  less  access  to  history,  and  less  leisure  to  study  it,  into  the  false  beliet 
that  "  our  fathers,  who  framed  the  Government  under  which  we  live," 
were  of  the  same  opinion — thus  substituting  falsehood  and  deception  for 
truthful  evidence  and  fair  argument.  If  any  man  at  this  day  sincerely 
believes  "our  fathers,  who  framed  the  Government  under  which  we  live," 
used  and  applied  principles,  in  other  cases,  which  ought  to  have  led  them 
to  understand  that  a  proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  authority,  or 
some  part  of  the  Constitution,  forbids  the  Federal  Government  to  control 
as  to  slavery  in  the  Federal  territories,  he  is  right  to  say  so.  But  he 
should,  at  the  same  time,  brave  the  responsibility  of  declaring  that,  in  his 
opinion,  he  understands  their  principles  better  than  they  did  themselves ; 
and  especially  should  he  not  shirk  that  responsibility  by  asserting  that  they 
"understood  the  question  just  as  well,  and  even  better  than  we  do  now." 

But  enough !  Let  all  who  beliece  that  "  our  fathers,  who  framed  the 
Government  under  which  we  live,  understood  this  question  just  as  well,  and 
even  better  titan  we  do  now,'*''  speak  as  they  spoke,  and  act  as  they  acted 
upon  it.  This  is  all  Republicans  ask — all  Republicans  desire — in  relation 
to  slavery.  As  those  fathers  marked  it,  so  let  it  be  again  marked,  as  an 
evil  not  to  be  extended,  but  to  be  tolerated  and  protected  only  because  of,  and 
tv  far  as,  its  actual  presence  among  us  makes  that  toleration  and  protection 
a  necessity.  Let  all  the  guaranties  those  fathers  gave  it  be  not  grudgingly, 
but  fully  and  fairly  maintained.  For  this  Republicans  contend,  and  with 
this,  so  fa  i*  as  I  know  or  believe,  thoy  will  be  content 


92  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

And  now,  if  they  would  listen — as  I  suppose  they  will  not — I  would 
address  a  few  words  to  the  Southern  people. 

I  would  say  to  them  : — You  consider  yourselves  a  reasonable  and  a  just 
people ;  and  I  consider  that  in  the  general  qualities  of  reason  and  justice 
you  are  not  inferior  to  any  other  people.  Still,  when  you  speak  of  us 
Republicans,  you  do  so  only  to  denounce  us  as  reptiles,  or,  at  the  best,  as 
no  better  than  outlaws.  You  will  grant  a  hearing  to  pirates  or  murderers, 
but  nothing  like  it  to  "Black  Republicans."  In  all  your  contentions  with 
one  another,  each  of  you  deems  an  unconditional  condemnation  of  "  Black 
Republicanism "  as  the  first  thing  to  be  attended  to.  Indeed,  such  con- 
demnation of  us  seems  to  be  an  indispensable  prerequisite — license,  so  to 
speak — among  you,  to  be  admitted  or  permitted  to  speak  at  all.  Now, 
can  you,  or  not,  be  prevailed  upon  to  pause,  and  to  consider  whether  this 
is  quite  just  to  us,  or  even  to  yourselves  ?  Bring  forward  your  charges  and 
specifications,  and  then  be  patient  long  enough  to  hear  us  deny  or 
justify. 

You  say  we  are  sectional.  We  deny  it.  That  makes  an  issue ;  and  the 
burden  of  proof  is  upon  you.  You  produce  your  proof;  and  what  is  it? 
Why,  that  our  party  has  no  existence  in  your  section — gets  no  votes  in 
your  section.  The  fact  is  substantially  true ;  but  does  it  prove  the  issue  ? 
If  it  does,  then  in  case  we  should,  without  change  of  principle,  begin  to 
get  votes  in  your  section,  we  should  thereby  cease  to  be  sectional.  You 
cannot  escape  this  conclusion ;  and  yet,  are  you  willing  to  abide  by  it  ? 
If  you  are,  you  will  probably  soon  find  that  we  have  ceased  to  be  sectional, 
for  we  shall  get  votes  in  your  section  this  very  year.  You  will  then  begin 
to  discover,  as  the  truth  plainly  is,  that  your  proof  does  not  touch  the 
issue.  The  fact  that  we  get  no  votes  in  your  section,  is  a  fact  of  your 
making,  and  not  of  ours.  And  if  there  be  fault  in  that  fact,  that  fault  is 
primarily  yours,  and  remains  so  until  you  show  that  we  repel  you  by  some 
wrong  principle  or  practice.  If  we  do  repel  you  by  any  wrong  principle 
or  practice,  the  fault  is  ours ;  but  this  brings  you  to  where  you  ought  to 
have  started — to  a  discussion  of  the  right  or  wrong  of  our  principle.  If 
our  principle,  put  in  practice,  would  wrong  your  section  for  the  bene- 
fit of  ours,  or  for  any  other  object,  then  our  principle,  and  we  with  it, 
are  sectional,  and  are  justly  opposed  and  denounced  as  such.  Meet  us, 
then,  on  the  question  of  whether  our  principle,  put  in  practice,  would 
wrong  your  section ;  and  so  meet  us  as  if  it  were  possible  that  something 
may  be  said  on  our  side.  Do  you  accept  the  challenge  ?  No  I  Then  you 
really  believe  that  the  principle  which  "  our  fathers  who  framed  the  Gov- 
ernment under  which  we  live"  thought  so  clearly  right  as  to  adopt  it, 
and  indorse  it  again  and  again,  upon  their  official  oaths,  is  in  fact  so 
clearly  wrong  as  to  demand  your  condemnation  witnout  a  moment's  con- 
sideration. 

Some  of  you  delight  to  flaunt  in  our  faces  the  warning  against  sectional 
parties  given  by  Washington  in  his  Farewell  Address.    Less  than  eight 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  93 

yearn  before  Washington  gave  that  warning,  lie  had,  as  President  of  tbt 
United  States,  approved  and  signed  an  act  of  Congress  enforcing  the  pro- 
hibition of  slavery  in  the  Northwestern  Territory,  which  act  embodied 
the  policy  of  the  Government  upon  that  subject  up  to,  and  at,  the  very 
moment  he  penned  that  warning  ;  and  about  one  year  after  he  penned  it, 
be  wrote  La  Fayette  that  no  considered  that  prohibition  a  wise  measure, 
expressing  in  the  same  connection  his  hope  that  we  should  at  some  time 
Lave  a  confederacy  of  free  States. 

Bearing  this  in  mind,  and  seeing  that  sectionalism  has  since  arisen  upon 
this  same  subject,  is  that  warning  a  weapon  in  your  hands  against  us,  or 
in  our  hands  against  you  ?  Could  Washington  himself  speak,  would  he 
cast  the  blame  of  that  sectionalism  upon  us,  who  sustain  his  policy,  or 
upon  you,  who  repudiate  it?  We  respect  that  warning  of  Washington,  and 
we  commend  it  to  you,  together  with  his  example  pointing  to  the  right 
application  of  it. 

But  you  say  you  are  conservative — eminently  conservative — while  we 
are  revolutionary,  destructive,  or  something  of  the  sort.  What  is  con- 
servatism ?  Is  it  not  adherence  to  the  old  and  tried,  against  a  new  and 
untried?  We  stick  to,  contend  for,  the  identical  old  policy  on  the  point 
in  controversy  which  was  adopted  by  "  our  fathers  who  framed  the  Gov- 
ernment under  which  we  live ;"  while  you  with  one  accord  reject,  and 
scout,  and  spit  upon  that  old  policy,  and  insist  upon  substituting  something 
new.  True,  you  disagree  among  yourselves  as  to  what  that  substitute 
shall  be.  You  are  divided  on  new  propositions  and  plans,  hut  you  are 
unanimous  in  rejecting  and  denouncing  the  old  policy  of  the  fathers. 
Some  of  you  are  for  reviving  the  foreign  slave-trade ;  some  for  a  Con- 
gressional Slave -Code  for  the  Territories;  some  for  Congress  forbidding 
the  Territories  to  prohibit  Slavery  within  their  limits;  some  for  maintain- 
ing Slavery  in  the  Territories  through  the  judiciary ;  some  for  the  "  gur- 
reat  pur-rineiple  "  that  "  if  one  man  would  enslave  another,  no  third  man 
should  object,"  fantastically  called  "  Popular  Sovereignty ;"  but  never  a 
man  among  you  in  favor  of  Federal  prohibition  of  slavery  in  Federal  terri- 
tories, according  to  the  practice  of  "  our  fathers  who  framed  the  Govern- 
ment under  which  we  live."  Not  one  of  all  your  various  plans  can  show  a 
precedent  or  an  advocate  in  the  century  within  which  our  Government 
originated.  Consider,  then,  whether  your  claim  of  conservatism  for  your 
selves,  and  your  charge  of  destructiveness  against  us,  are  based  on  the 
most  clear  and  stable  foundations. 

Again :  you  say  we  have  made  the  slavery  question  more  prominent  than 
it  formerly  was.  We  deny  it.  We  admit  that  it  is  more  prominent,  but 
we  deny  that  we  mado  it  so.  It  was  not  we,  but  you,  who  discarded  the 
old  policy  of  the  fathers.  We  resisted,  and  still  resist  your  innovation; 
and  thence  comes  !;he  greater  prominence  of  the  question.  Would  yon 
have  that  question  reduced  to  its  former  proportions?  Go  back  to  that 
old  policy.    What  has  been  will  be  again,  under  the  same  conditions.    If 


H  The  Lifb,  Public  Services,  and 

roa  would  have  the  peace  of  the  old  times,  readopt  the  precepts  and  polio} 
»f  the  old  times. 

You  charge  that  we  stir  up  insurrections  among  your  slaves.  Wo  deny 
't;  and  what  is  your  proof?  Harper's  Ferry  I  John  Brown  1!  John 
Brown  was  no  Republican ;  and  you  have  failed  to  implicate  a  single  Re- 
publican in  his  Harper's  Ferry  enterprise.  If  any  member  of  our  party  is 
guilty  in  that  matter,  you  know  it  or  you  do  not  know  it.  If  you  do  know 
it,  you  are  inexcusable  for  not  designating  the  man  and  proving  the  fact. 
If  you  do  not  know  it,  you  are  inexcusable  for  asserting  it,  and  especially 
for  persisting  in  the  assertion  after  you  have  tried  and  failed  to  make  the 
oroof.  You  need  not  be  told  that  persisting  in  a  charge  which  one  does 
not  know  to  be  true  is  simply  malicious  slander. 

Some  of  you  admit  that  no  Republican  designedly  aided  or  encouraged 
the  Harper's  Ferry  affair ;  but  still  insist  that  our  doctrines  and  declara- 
tions necessarily  lead  to  such  results.  We  do  not  believe  it.  We  know 
we  hold  to  no  doctrine,  and  make  no  declaration,  which  were  not  held  to 
and  made  by  "  our  fathers  who  framed  the  Government  under  which  we 
live."  You  never  dealt  fairly  by  us  in  relation  to  this  affair.  When  it 
occurred,  some  important  State  elections  were  near  at  hand,  and  you  were 
in  evident  glee  with  the  belief  that,  by  charging  the  blame  upon  us,  you 
could  get  an  advantage  of  us  in  those  elections.  The  elections  came,  and 
four  expectations  were  not  quite  fulfilled.  Every  Republican  man  knew 
fchat,  as  to  himself  at  least,  your  charge  was  a  slander,  and  he  was  not 
much  inclined  by  it  to  cast  his  vote  in  your  favor.  Republican  doctrines 
and  declarations  are  accompanied  with  a  continued  protest  against  any 
interference  whatever  with  your  slaves,  or  with  you  about  your  slaves. 
Surely,  this  does  not  encourage  them  to  revolt.  True,  we  do,  in  common 
with  "our  fathers,  who  framed  the  Government  under  which  we  live," 
declare  our  belief  that  slavery  is  wrong ;  but  the  slaves  do  not  hear  us 
declare  even  this.  For  any  thing  we  say  or  do,  the  slaves  would  scarcely 
know  there  is  a  Republican  party.  I  believe  they  would  not,  in  fact, 
generally  know  it  but  for  your  misrepresentations  of  us  in  their  hearing. 
In  your  political  contests  among  yourselves,  each  faction  charges  the 
other  with  sympathy  with  Black  Republicanism ;  and  then,  to  give  point 
to  the  charge,  defines  Black  Republicanism  to  simply  be  insurrection, 
blood,  and  thunder  among  the  slaves. 

Slave  insurrections  are  no  more  common  now  than  they  were  be 
fore  the  Republican  party  was  organized.  What  induced  the  Southamp 
ton  insurrection,  twenty-eight  years  ago,  in  which,  at  least,  three  times  as 
many  lives  were  lost  as  at  Harper's  Ferry?  You  can  scarcely  stretch 
your  very  elastic  fancy  to  the  conclusion  that  Southampton  was  "got  up 
by  Black  Republicanism."  In  the  present  state  of  things  in  the  United 
States,  I  do  not  think  a  general  or  even  a  very  extensive  slave  insurrec- 
tioi*  is  possible.  The  indispensable  concert  of  action  cannot  be  attained. 
The  slaves  have  no  means  of  rapid  communication ;  nor  can  incendiarj 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  95 

freemen,  black  or  white,  supply  it.  The  explosive  materials  are  every- 
where in  parcels;  but  there  neither  are,  nor  can  be  supplied,  the  india- 
pensable  connecting- trains. 

Much  is  said  by  Southern  people  about  the  affection  of  slaves  for  theif 
masters  and  mistresses ;  and  a  part  of  it,  at  least,  is  true.  A  plot  for  an 
uprising  could  scarcely  be  devised  and  communicated  to  twenty  individ- 
uals before  some  one  of  them,  to  save  the  life  of  a  favorite  muster  or  mis- 
tress, would  divulge  it.  This  is  the  rule;  and  the  slave  revolution  in 
Hayti  was  not  an  exception  to  it,  but  a  case  occurring  under  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances. The  gunpowder  plot  of  British  history,  though  not  connect- 
ed with  slaves,  was  more  in  point.  In  that  case,  only  about  twenty  were 
admitted  to  the  secret ;  and  yet  one  of  them,  in  his  anxiety  to  save  a 
friend,  betrayed  the  plot  to  that  friend,  and,  by  consequence,  averted  the 
calamity.  Occasional  poisonings  from  the  kitchen,  and  open  or  stealthy 
assassinations  in  the  tield,  and  local  revolts,  extending  to  a  score  or  so, 
will  continue  to  occur  as  the  natural  results  of  slavery ;  but  no  general 
insurrection  of  slaves,  as  I  think,  can  happen  in  this  country  for  a  long 
time.  Whoever  much  fears  or  much  hopes  for  such  an  event  will  be  alika 
disappointed. 

in  the  language  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  uttered  many  years  ago,  •*  It  is  still  in 
c&r  power  to  direct  the  process  of  emancipation  and  deportation  peace 
a;>iy,  and  in  <uich  slow  degrees,  as  that  the  evil  will  wear  off  insensibly; 
and  their  places  be,  pari  passu,  filled  up  by  free  white  laborers.  If,  on 
tne  contrary,  it  is  left  to  force  itself  on,  human  nature  must  shudder  at 
the  prospect  held  up." 

Mr.  Jefferson  did  not  mean  to  uay,  nor  do  I,  that  the  power  of  emanci- 
pation is  in  the  Federal  Government.  He  spoke  of  Virginia;  and,  as  to 
the  power  of  emancipation,  I  speak  of  the  slaveholding  States  only.  The 
Federal  Government,  however,  as  we  insist,  has  the  power  of  restraining 
the  extension  of  the  institution — the  power  to  insure  that  a  slave  insur- 
rection shall  never  occur  on  any  American  soil  which  is  now  free  from 
•laverj . 

John  Brown's  effort  was  peculiar.  It  was  not  a  slave  insurrection.  It 
was  an  attempt  by  white  men  to  get  up  a  revolt  among  slaves,  in  which 
the  slaves  refused  to  participate.  In  fact,  it  was  so  absurd  that  the  slaves, 
with  all  their  ignorance,  saw  plainly  enough  it  could  not  succeed.  That 
affair,  in  its  philosophy,  corresponds  with  the  many  attempts  related  in 
history  at  the  assassination  of  kings  and  emperors.  An  enthusiast  brooda 
over  the  oppression  of  a  people  till  he  fancies  himself  commissioned  by 
Heaven  to  liberate  them.  He  ventures  the  attempt,  which  ends  in  little 
else  than  his  own  execution.  Orsini's  attempt  on  Louis  Napoleon  and 
John  Brown's  attempt  at  Harper's  Ferry  were,  in  their  philosophy,  pre- 
cisely the  same.  The  eagerness  to  cast  blame  on  old  England  in  the  3ii# 
case,  and  on  New  England  in  the  other,  does  not  disprove  the  samenes* 
of  the  two  things. 


96  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

And  how  much  would  it  avail  you,  if  you  could,  hy  the  use  of  John 
Brown,  Helper's  Book,  and  the  like,  break  up  the  Republican  organiza- 
tion? Human  action  can  be  modified  to  some  extent,  but  human  naturo 
cannot  be  changed.  There  is  a  judgment  and  a  feeling  against  slavery  in 
this  nation,  which  cast  at  least  a  million  and  a  half  of  votes.  You  cannot 
destroy  that  judgment  and  feeling — that  sentiment — by  breaking  up  tbe 
political  organization  which  rallies  around  it.  You  can  scarcely  scatter 
and  disperse  an  army  which  has  been  formed  into  order  in  the  face  of 
your  heaviest  fire;  but  if  you  could,  how  much  would  you  gain  by  forcin 
the  sentiment  which  created  it  out  of  the  peaceful  channel  of  the  ballot- 
box,  into  some  other  channel  ?  What  would  that  other  channel  probably 
b«?  "Would  the  number  of  John  Browns  be  lessened  or  enlarged  by  tbe 
operation  j 

i$ut  you  will  break  up  the  Union  rather  than  submit  to  a  denial  of  yonr 
Constitutional  rights. 

That  has  a  somewhat  reckless  sound;  but  it  would  be  palliated,  if  not 
fully  justified,  were  we  proposing,  by  the  mere  force  of  numbers,  to  de- 
prive you  of  some  right  plainly  written  down  in  the  Constitution.  Bui 
we  are  proposing  no  such  thing. 

When  you  make  these  declarations,  you  have  a  specific  and  well-und«r- 
•tood  allusion  to  an  assumed  Constitutional  right  of  ycurs  to  t&ke  slave* 
nto  the  Federal  Territories,  and  to  hold  them  there  as  properly.  But  liO 
iuch  right  is  specifically  written  in  the  Constitution.  That  instrument  ii 
literally  silent  about  any  such  right.  We,  on  the  contrary,  deny  that 
such  a  right  has  any  existence  in  the  Constitution,  even  by  implication. 

Your  purpose,  then,  plainly  stated,  is,  that  you  will  destroy  the  Gov- 
ernment unless  you  be  allowed  to  construe  and  enforce  the  Constitution 
»s  you  please  on  all  points  in  dispute  between  you  and  us.  You  will  rule 
©r  ruin,  in  all  events. 

This,  plainly  stated,  is  your  language.  Perhaps  you  will  say  the  Su- 
preme Court  has  decided  the  disputed  Constitutional  question  in  yonr 
favor.  Not  quite  so.  But,  waiving  the  lawyer's  distinction  between  dic- 
tum and  decision,  the  Court  have  decided  the  question  for  you  in  a  sort 
of  wny.  The  Court  have  substantially  said,  it  h  your  Constitutional  righ* 
to  take  slaves  into  the  Federal  Territories,  and  to  hold  them  there  as 
property.  When  I  say  the  decision  was  made  in  a  sort  of  way,  I  mean  it 
was  made  in  a  divided  Court,  by  a  bare  majority  of  the  judges,  and  they 
not  quite  agreeing  with  one  another  in  the  reasons  for  making  it;  that  it 
is  so  made  as  that  its  avowed  supporters  disagree  with  one  another  about 
its  meaning,  and  that  it  was  mainly  based  upon  a  mistaken  statement  of 
fact — the  statement  in  the  opinion  that  "the  right  of  property  in  a  slave 
is  distinctly  and  expressly  affirmed  in  the  Constitution." 

An  inspection  of  the  Constitution  will  show  that  the  right  of  property 
in  a  slave  is  not  "distinctly  and  expressly  affirmed  "  in  it.  Bear  in  mind, 
&e  judges  do  pot  pledge  their  judicial  opiniop  that  such  right  is  implied 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  97 

ly  trfnnned  in  the  Constitution ;  but  they  pledge  their  veracity  that  it  is 
"  distinctly  and  expresdy"  affirmed  there—"  distinctly,"  that  id,  net 
mingled  with  any  thing  else— "expressly,"  that  is,  in  words  meaning  just 
that,  without  the  aid  of  any  inference,  and  susceptible  of  no  other  meaning. 

Ii  they  had  only  pledged  their  judicial  opinion  that  such  right  is 
affirmed  in  the  instrument  by  implication,  it  would  be  open  to  others  to 
sb  >w  that  neither  the  word  "slave"  nor  "slavery"  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Constitution,  nor  the  word  "property"  even,  in  any  connection  with  Ian 
gi-age  alluding  to  the  things  slave  or  slavery,  and  that  wherever  in  that 
in»tru.neut  the  slave  is  alluded  to,  he  is  called  a  "  person;"— and  vi  lier- 
ever  his  master's  legal  right  iu  relation  to  him  is  alluded  to,  it  is  o^ujkv. 
or  as  4i  service  or  labor  which  may  be  due,"— as  a  debt  payable  in  service 
or  labor.  Also,  it  would  be  open  to  show,  by  contemporaneous  history, 
that  this  mode  of  alluding  to  slaves  and  slavery,  instead  of  speaking  of 
them,  was  employed  on  purpose  to  exclude  from  the  Constitution  the 
idea  that  there  could  be  property  in  man. 

To  show  all  this,  is  easy  and  certain. 

When  this  obvious  mistake  of  the  judges  shall  be  brought  to  their  no- 
tice, is  it  not  reasonable  to  expect  that  they  will  withdraw  the  mistaken 
statement,  and  reconsider  the  conclusion  based  upon  it? 

And  then  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  "  our  fathers,  who  framed  th* 
Government  under  which  we  live" — the  men  who  made  the  Constitution 
— decided  this  same  Constitutional  question  in  our  favor,  long  ago — 
decided  it  without  division  among  themselves,  when  making  the  decision ; 
without  division  among  themselves  about  the  meaning  of  it  after  it  was 
made,  and,  so  far  as  any  evidence  is  left,  without  basing  ii  upon  any  mis- 
taken statement  of  facts. 

Under  all  these  circumstances,  do  yon  really  feel  yourselves  justified  to 
bieak  up  this  Government,  unless  such  a  court  decision  as  yours  is  shall 
be  at  once  submitted  to  as  a  conclusive  and  final  rule  of  political  action  ? 
But  you  will  not  abide  the  election  of  a  Kepublican  president  I  In  that 
supposed  event,  yon  say,  yon  will  destroy  the  Union ;  and  then,  you  oay 
the  great  crime  of  having  destroyed  it  will  be  \.pon  us !  That  is  cool.  J 
highwayman  holds  a  pistol  to  my  ear,  and  mutters  through  his  teetr 
"  Stand  and  deliver,  or  I  shall  kill  you,  and  then  you  will  be  a  murderer ' 

To  be  sure,  what  the  robber  demanded  of  me — my  money — was  r  / 
own ;  and  I  had  a  clear  right  to  keep  it ;  but  it  was  no  more  my  o  n 
than  my  vote  is  my  own  ;  and  the  threat  of  death  to  me,  to  extort  <y 
money,  and  the  threat  of  destruction  to  the  Union,  to  extort  my  *  »e, 
can  scarcely  be  distinguished  in  principle. 

A  few  words  now  to  Republicans.  It  is  exceedingly  desirable  that  ill 
parts  of  this  great  Confederacy  shall  be  at  peace,  and  in  har^wny  on* 
with  another.  Let  us  Republicans  do  our  part  to  have  it  so.  Even  though 
*mch  provolced,  let  us  do  nothing  through  passion  and  Ul  temper.  Even 
though  the  southern  people  will  not  so  much  as  listen  to  us,  let  us  calmly 
1 


98  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

consider  their  demands,  and  yield  to  them  if,  in  our  deliberate  view  of  cm* 
duty,  we  possibly  can.  Judging  by  all  they  say  and  do,  and  by  the  sub- 
ject and  nature  of  their  controversy  with  us,  let  us  determine,  if  we  car^ 
what  will  satisfy  them. 

Will  they  be  satisfied  if  the  Territories  be  unconditionally  surrendered 
to  them?  We  know  they  will  not.  In  all  their  present  complaints 
against  us,  the  Territories  are  scarcely  mentioned.  Invasions  and  insur  ■ 
rections  are  the  rage  now.  Will  it  satisfy  them  if,  in  the  future,  we  have 
nothing  to  do  with  invasions  and  insurrections?  We  know  it  will  not. 
We  so  know,  because  we  know  we  never  had  any  thing  to  do  with  in- 
vasions and  insurrections;  and  yet  this  total  abstaining  does  not  exempt 
»  as  from  the  charge  and  the  denunciation. 

The  question  recurs,  what  will  satisfy  them ?  Simply  this:  We  must 
not  only  let  them  alone,  but  we  must,  somehow,  convince  them  that  we 
do  let  them  alone.  This,  we  know  by  experience,  is  no  easy  task.  We 
have  been  so  trying  to  convince  them  from  the  very  beginning  of  our  or- 
ganization, but  with  no  success.  In  all  our  platforms  and  speeches  we 
have  constantly  protested  our  purpose  to  let  them  alone ;  but  this  has  had 
no  tendency  to  convince  them.  Alike  unavailing  to  convince  them  is  the 
fact  that  they  have  never  detected  a  man  of  us  in  any  attempt  to  disturb 
them. 

These  natural  and  apparently  adequate  means  all  failing,  what  will  con 
vince  them?  This,  and  this  only:  cease  to  call  slavery  wrong,  and  join 
them  in  calling  it  right.  And  this  must  be  done  thoroughly — done  in 
acts  as  well  as  in  words.  Silence  will  not  be  tolerated — we  must  place 
ourselves  avowedly  with  them.  Senator  Douglas's  new  sedition  law  must 
be  enacted  and  enforced,  suppressing  all  declarations  that  slavery  19 
wrong,  whether  made  in  politics,  in  presses,  in  pulpits,  or  in  private, 
We  must  arrest  and  return  their  fugitive  slaves  with  greedy  pleasure. 
We  must  pull  down  our  Free  State  constitutions.  The  whole  atmosphere 
must  be  disinfected  from  all  taint  of  opposition  to  slavery,  before  they 
will  cease  to  believe  that  all  their  troubles  proceed  from  us. 

I  am  quite  aware  they  do  not  state  their  case  precisely  in  this  way. 

Most  of  them  would  probably  say  to  us,  "  Let  us  alone,  do  nothing  to  us, 

say  what  you  please  about  slavery."    But  we  do  let  them  alone — 

*ve  never  disturbed  them — so  that,  after  all,  it  is  what  we  say  which 

dissatisfies  them.     They  will  continue  to  accuse  us  of  doing,  until  we 

cease  saying. 

I  am  also  aware  they  have  not  as  yet,  in  terms,  demanded  the  over 
throw  of  our  Free  State  Constitutions.  Yet  those  Constitutions  declare 
the  wrong  of  slavery,  with  more  solemn  emphasis  than  do  all  other 
gayings  against  it;  and  when  all  these  other  sayings  shall  have  been 
■ilenced,  the  overthrow  of  these  Constitutions  will  be  demanded,  and 
nothing  be  left  to  resist  the  demand.  It  is  nothing  to  the  contrary,  that 
they  do  not  demand  the  whole  of  this  just  now.    Demanding  what  they 

-if 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  99 

do,  and  for  the  reason  they  do,  they  can  voluntarily  stop  nowhere  short 
of  this  consummation.  Holding,  as  they  do,  that  slavery  is  morally 
right,  and  socially  elevating,  they  cannot  cease  to  demand  a  full  national 
recognition  of  it,  as  a  legal  right  and  a  social  blessing. 

Nor  can  we  justifiably  withhold  this  on  any  ground  save  our  conviction 
that  slavery  is  wrong.  If  slavery  is  right,  all  words,  acts,  laws,  and  con- 
stitutions against  it  are  themselves  wrong,  and  should  be  silenced  ami 
swept  away.  If  it  is  right,  we  cannot  justly  object  to  its  nationality— it* 
universality  ;  if  it  is  wrong,  they  cannot  justly  insist  upon  its  extension- 
its  enlargement.  All  they  ask  we  could  readily  grant,  if  we  thought 
slavery  right ;  all  we  ask  they  could  as  readily  grant,  if  they  thought  it 
wrong.  Their  thinking  it  right,  and  our  thinking  it  wrong,  is  the  precise 
faot  upon  which  depends  the  whole  controversy.  Thinking  it  right,  as 
they  do,  they  are  not  to  blame  for  desiring  its  full  recognition,  as  being 
right ;  but,  thinking  it  wrong,  as  we  do,  can  we  yield  to  them  ?  Can  we 
cast  our  votes  with  their  view,  and  against  our  own  ?  In  view  of  our 
moral,  social,  and  political  responsibilities,  can  we  do  this? 

Wrong  as  we  think  slavery  is,  we  can  yet  afford  to  let  it  alone  where  it 
is,  because  that  much  is  duo  to  the  necessity  arising  from  its  actual  pres- 
ence in  the  nation ;  but  can  we,  while  our  votes  will  prevent  it,  allow  it 
to  spread  into  the  National  Territories,  and  to  overrun  us  here  ia  these 
Free  States  ?  If  our  sense  of  duty  forbids  this,  then  let  us  stand  by  our 
duty,  fearlessly  and  effectively.  Let  us  be  diverted  by  none  of  those  so- 
phistical contrivances  wherewith  we  are  so  industriously  plied  and  bela- 
bored— contrivances  such  as  groping  for  some  middle  ground  between  the 
right  and  the  wrong,  vain  as  the  search  for  a  man  who  should  be  neither 
a  living  man  nor  a  dead  man — such  as  a  policy  of  "don't  care"  on  a 
question  about  which  all  true  men  do  care — such  as  Union  appeals  be- 
seeching true  Union  men  to  yield  to  Disunionists,  reversing  the  divine 
rule,  and  calling,  not  the  sinners,  but  the  righteous  to  repentance — such 
as  invocations  to  Washington,  imploring  men  to  unsay  what  Washington 
ssid,  and  undo  what  Washington  did. 

Neither  let  us  be  slandered  from  our  duty  by  false  accusations  against 
us,  nor  frightened  from  it  by  menaces  of  destruction  to  the  Government 
nor  of  dungeons  to  ourselves.  Let  us  havs  faith  that  Right  makes 
Might,  and  in  that  faith  let  us,  to  the  en  i>.t  dare  to  do  our  duty  as 

WE  UNDERSTAND  IT. 

The  pre-eminent  ability  displayed  in  this  address,  com- 
pelled the  people  of  the  Middle  and  Eastern  States  to 
acknowledge  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  only  one  of  the 
foremost  men  of  the  West,  but  of  the  whole  country,  and 
this  estimate  was  continued  by  the  speeches  which  he 
subsequently  delivered  in  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  and 


100  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

New  Hampshire.  Indeed,  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  state 
that  the  joint  effect  of  these  efforts— more  particularly  hia 
speech  at  Cooper  Institute — and  of  his  debates  with  Mr. 
Douglas,  was  to  make  Mr.  Lincoln  decidedly  the  second 
choice  of  the  great  body  of  the  Republicans  of  New 
York,  as  the  candidate  of  the  Republican  party  for  the 
campaign  of  1860. 

Some  incidents  of  this  visit  to  New  York,  illustrate  the 
simplicity  and  earnestness  of  the  character  of  our  late 
President  so  forcibly,  that  they  are  well  deserving  being 
placed  on  record.  A  prominent  member  of  the  Young 
Men's  Republican  Association,  who  was  thrown  much 
in  Mr.  Lincoln's  company  during  his  brief  stay,  writes : 

During  the  day,  before  the  delivery  of  the  address,  a  friend  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  called  at  the  Astor  House,  where  he  was  staying,  and  suggested  that 
the  orator  should  be  taken  up  Broadway  and  shown  the  city,  of  which  he 
knew  but  little,  stating,  I  think,  that  he  had  been  here  but  once  before.  We 
accompanied  him  to  several  large  establishments,  with  all  of  which  he 
seemed  much  amused. 

At  one  place  he  met  an  Illinois  acquaintance  of  former  years,  to  whom 
he  said,  in  his  dry,  good-natured  way :  "  Well,  B.,  how  have  you  fared 
since  you  left  Illinois  ?"  To  which  B.  replied,  M I  have  made  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  and  lost  it  all ;  how  is  it  with  you,  Mr.  Lincoln  ?"  "  Oh, 
very  well,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln  ;  "I  have  the  cottage  at  Springfield  and  about 
$3,000  in  money.  If  they  make  me  Vice-President  with  Seward,  as  some 
say  they  will,  I  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  increase  it  to  $20,000,  and  that  is 
as  much  as  any  man  ought  to  want." 

We  visited  a  photographic  establishment  upon  the  corner  of  Broadway 
and  Bleecker  street,  where  he  sat  for  his  picture,  the  first  taken  in  New 
York.  At  the  gallery  he  met  and  was  introduced  to  George  Bancroft. 
and  had  a  brief  conversation  with  that  gentleman,  who  welcomed  him  to 
New  York.  The  contrast  in  the  appearance  of  the  men  wac  most  striking 
— the  one  courtly  and  precise  in  his  every  word  and  gesture,  with  the  air 
of  a  trans- Atlantic  statesman ;  the  other  bluff  and  awkward,  his  every 
utterance  an  apology  for  his  ignorance  of  metropolitan  manners  and  cus- 
toms. "  I  am  on  my  way  to  Massachusetts,"  said  he  to  Mr.  Bancroft, 
"  where  I  have  a  son  at  sohool,  who,  if  report  be  true,  aiready  knows 
much  more  than  his  father." 

A  teacher  at  the  Five  Points  House  of  Industry  tells 
this  touching  incident,  which  doubtless  transpired  during 
the  same  visit : 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  101 

Our  Sunday  School  in  the  Five  Points  was  assembled,  one  Sabbath 
morning,  when  I  noticed  a  tall,  remarkablo  looking  man  enter  the  room 
and  take  a  seat  among  us.  He  listeae*}  SviiH  fix^d  attention  'to  our  exer- 
cises, and  his  countenance  expressed*  •such  gerfuiue  interest  that  I  ap- 
proached, him  and  suggested  that  he' might  be  JVttlm-g;  ty>  JfeajJ  feoinething  to 
the  children.  He  accepted  the  invWatio^  with  evident  pleasufe;  and, 
coming  forward,  began  a  simple  address,  which  at  once  fascinated  every 
little  hearer  and  hushed  the  room  into  silence.  His  language  was  stri- 
kingly beautiful,  and  his  tones  musical  with  intensest  feeling.  The  little 
faces  around  him  would  droop  into  sad  conviction  as  he  uttered  sentences 
of  warning,  and  would  brighten  into  sunshine  as  he  spoke  cheerful  wordi 
of  promise.  Once  or  twice  he  attempted  to  close  his  remarks  but  the 
imperative  shout  of  "Go  on!"  "Oh,  do  go  on!"  would  compel  him  to 
resume.  As  I  looked  upon  the  gaunt  and  sinewy  frame  of  the  stranger, 
and  marked  his  powerful  head  and  determined  features,  now  touched  into 
softness  by  the  impressions  of  the  moment,  I  felt  an  irrepressible  curiosity 
to  learn  something  more  about  him,  and  when  he  was  quietly  leaving  the 
room  I  begged  to  know  his  name.  He  courteously  replied,  u  It  is  Abraham 
Lincoln,  from  Illinois." 

The  following  letter,  written  during  this  same  period, 
in  reply  to  an  invitation  to  attend  a  festival  in  honor  of 
the  anniversary  of  Jefferson's  "birthday,  given  by  the 
Republicans  of  Boston,  is  thoroughly  characteristic  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  quaint  humor  of  its  illustration : 

Springfield,  Illinois,  April  6, 1889. 

Gentlemen  : — Your  kind  note  inviting  me  to  attend  a  festival  in  Boston 
on  the  13th  instant,  in  honor  of  the  birthday  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  wai 
duly  received.     My  engagements  are  such  that  I  cannot  attend 

The  Democracy  of  to-day  hold  the  liberty  of  one  man  to  be  absolutely 
nothing,  when  in  conflict  with  another  man's  right  of  property.  Repub- 
licans, on  the  contrary,  are  both  for  the  man  and  the  dollar,  but,  in  case 
of  conflict,  the  man  bejore  the  dollar. 

I  remember  being  once  much  amused  at  seeing  two  partially  intoxi- 
cated men  engaged  in  a  fight  with  their  great-coats  on,  which  fight,  after 
a  !ong  and  rather  harmless  contest,  ended  in  each  having  fought  himself 
out  of  his  own  coat,  and  into  that  of  the  other.  If  the  two  leading  par- 
ties of  this  day  are  really  identical  with  the  two  in  the  days  of  Jefferson 
and  Adams,  they  have  performed  the  same  feat  as  the  two  drunken  men. 

But,  soberly,  it  is  now  no  child's  play  to  save  the  principles  of  Jeffer- 

Sun  from  total  overthrow  in  this  nation This  is  a  world  of 

compensations;  and  he  who  would  le  no  slave,  must  consent  to  have  mt 
slave.  Those  who  deny  freedom  to  others,  deserve  it  not  for  thtTTTHri~n  ; 
*nd,  under  a  just  God,  cannot  long  retain  it, 


102  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

All  honor  to  Jefferson ;  to  a  man  who,  in  the  concrete  pressure  of  • 
struggle  for  national  independence  ]>y  a  single  people,  had  the  coolness, 
forecast,  and:  capacity  Wi^^vtxUice  into  a  merely  revolutionary  docn- 
ment  an  abstract  truth,*  appTi cable  to  all  men  and  all  times,  and  so  U 
embalm  j>t  ^h*e,''i, ^sf t  '.to-jdky  ami  in  all  coming  days  it  shall  be  a  rebuke 
and  a  stumbling-bio'cii  td  tW  harbingers  of  reappearing  tyranny  and 
oppression. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  Lincoln. 

Messrs.  H.  L.  Pierce,  and  others,  etc. 

But  we  turn  from  this  episode  to  resume  the  formal 
record  of  Mr.  Lincoln' s  political  career. 

The  Republican  National  Convention  of  1860  met  on  the 
16th  of  May,  at  Chicago,  in  an  immense  building  which 
the  people  of  that  city  had  put  up  for  the  purpose,  called 
the  Wigwam.  There  were  four  hundred  and  sixty-five 
delegates.  The  city  was  filled  with  earnest  men,  who 
had  come  there  to  press  the  claims  of  their  favorite  can- 
didates, and  the  halls  and  corridors  of  all  the  hotels 
swarmed  and  buzzed  with  an  eager  crowd,  in  and  out  of 
which  darted  or  pushed  or  wormed  their  way  the  various 
leaders  of  party  politics.  Mr.  Chase,  Mr.  Bates,  and  Mr. 
Cameron  were  spoken  of  and  pressed  somewhat  as  candi- 
dates, but  from  the  first  it  was  evident  that  the  contest 
lay  between  Mr.  Seward  and  Mr.  Lincoln. 

Judge  Wilmot,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  chosen  temporary 
Chairman  of  the  Convention,  and  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
first  day  a  permanent  organization  was  effected,  by  the 
choice  of  George  Ashmun,  of  Massachusetts,  as  presi- 
dent, with  twenty-seven  vice-presidents  and  twenty -five 
secretaries.  On  Thursday,  the  17th,  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions  reported  the  platform,  which  was  enthusiasti- 
cally adopted.  A  motion  was  made  to  proceed  to  the 
nomination  at  once,  &nd  if  that  had  been  done  the  result 
of  the  Convention  m%ht  have  proved  very  different,  as 
at  that  time  it  was  thought  that  Mr.  Seward's  chances 
were  the  best.  But  an  adjournment  was  taken  till  the 
morning,  and  during  the  n%M  the  combinations  were 
mude  which  resulted  in  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 
The  excitement  of  the  Convention  ai*2  of  the  audience  od 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  103 

the  morning  of  Friday  was  intense.     The  Illinoisans  had 
turned  out  in  great  numbers,  zealous  for  Lincoln ;  and 
though  the  other  States,  near  and  far,  had  sent  many  men 
who  were  equally  zealous  for  Mr.  Seward,  it  was  quite 
clear  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  supporters  were  in  the  majority 
in  the  audience.     The  first  ballot  gave  Mr,  Seward  one 
hundred  and  seventy- three  and  a  half  votes  to  one  hun- 
dred and  two  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  rest  b^ing  scattered. 
On  the  second  ballot  the  first  indication  of  the  result  was 
felt,  when  the  chairman  of  the  Vermont  delegation,  which 
had  been  divided  on  the  previous  ballot,  announced, 
when  the  name  of  that  State  was  called,  that  "  Vermont 
casts  her  ten  votes  for  the  young  giant  of   the  West, 
Abraham  Lincoln."     On  the  second  ballot,  Mr.  Seward 
had  one  hundred  and  eighty -four  and  a  half  to  one  hun 
dred  and  eighty-one  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  on  the  third  bal 
lot  Mr.  Lincoln  received  two  hundred  and  thirty  votes,  be- 
ing within  one  and  a  half  of  a  majority.    The  vote  was  not 
announced,  but  so  many  every  where  had  kept  the  count 
that  it  was  known  throughout  the  Convention  at  once. 
Mr.  Carter,  of  Ohio,  rose  and  announced  a  change  in  the 
vote  of  the  Ohio  delegation  of  four  votes  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  the  Convention  at  once  burst  into  a  state 
of  the  wildest  excitement.    The  cheers  of  the  audience 
within  were  answered  by  those  of  a  yet  larger  crowd 
without,  to  whom  the  result  was  announced.     Cannon 
roared,  and  bands  played,  and  banners  waved,  and  the 
excited    Republicans    of   Chicago    cheered   themselves 
hoarse,  while  on  the  wings  of  electricity  sped  all  over 
the  country  the  news  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  nomination,  to  be 
greeted  everywhere  with  similar  demonstrations.     It  was 
long  before  the  Convention  could  calm  itself  enough  to 
proceed  to  business.     When  it  did,  other  States  changed 
their  votes  in  favor  of  the  successful  nominee,  until  it 
was  announced,  as  the  result  of  the  third  ballot,  that 
Abraham   Lincoln,   of  Illinois,   had  received  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty-four  votes,  and  was  nominated  by  the  Re- 
publican party  for  the  office  of  President  of  the  United 
States.    The  nomination  was  then,  on  the  motion  of  Mr, 


104  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

Evarts,  of  New  York,  made  unanimous,  and  the  Conven- 
tion adjourned  till  the  afternoon,  when  they  completed 
their  work  by  nominating  Hannibal  Hamlin  for  Vice- 
President. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  at  Springfield  at  the  time.  He  had 
been  in  the  telegraph-office  during  the  casting  of  the  first 
and  second  ballots,  but  then  left,  and  went  over  to  the 
office  of  the  State  Journal,  where  he  was  sitting  convers- 
ing with  friends  while  the  third  ballot  was  being  taken. 
In  a  few  moments  came  across  the  wires  the  announce- 
ment of  the  result.  The  Superintendent  of  the  Telegraph 
Company,  who  was  present,  wrote  on  a  scrap  of  paper, 
"Mr.  Lincoln:  You  are  nominated  on  the  third  ballot," 
and  a  boy  ran  with  the  message  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  He 
looked  at  it  in  silence  amid  the  shouts  of  those  around 
him;  then  rising  and  putting  it  in  his  pocket,  he  said 
quietly,  "There's  a  little  woman  down  at  our  house 
would  like  to  hear  this — I'll  go  down  and  tell  her." 

Next  day  there  arrived  at  Springfield  the  committee 
appointed   by  the   Convention  to  inform  Mr.    Lincoln 
officially  of  his  nomination.     They  waited  upon  him  at 
his  residence,  and  Mr.  Ashmun,  President  of  the  Conven 
tion,  addressing  Mr.  Lincoln,  said  : 

I  have,  sir,  the  honor,  in  behalf  of  the  gentlemen  who  are  present — 
a  Committee  appointed  by  the  Republican  Convention  recently  assembled 
at  Chicago — to  discharge  a  most  pleasant  duty.  We  have  come,  sir, 
under  a  vote  of  instructions  to  that  Committee,  to  notify  you  that  you 
have  been  selected  by  the  Convention  of  the  Republicans  at  Chicago  for 
President  of  the  United  States.  They  instruct  us,  sir,  to  notify  you  of 
that  selection,  and  that  Committee  deem  it  not  only  respectful  to  yourself, 
but  appropriate  to  the  important  matter  which  they  have  in  hand,  that 
they  should  come  in  person,  and  present  to  you  the  authentic  evidence  of 
the  action  of  that  Convention ;  and,  sir,  without  any  phrase  which  shall 
either  be  considered  personally  plauditory  to  yourself,  or  which  shall  have 
any  reference  to  the  principles  involved  in  the  questions  which  are  con- 
nected with  your  nomination,  I  desire  to  present  to  you  the  letter  which 
has  been  prepared,  and  which  informs  you  of  your  nomination,  and  with 
it  the  platform  resolutions  and  sentiments  which  the  Convention  adopted. 
Sir  at  your  convenience  we  shall  bo  glad  to  receive  from  you  such  a  re 
•ponse  as  it  may  be  your  pleasure  to  give  usu 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  105 

Mr.  Lincoln  listened  to  this  address -with  a  degree  of 
grave  dignity  that  almost  wore  the  appearance  of  sadness, 
and  after  a  brief  pause,  in  which  he  seemed  to  be  ponder- 
ing the  momentous  responsibilities  of  his  position,  he 
replied  : — 

Mk.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  op  the  Committee  : — I  tender  to  you, 
and  through  you  to  the  Republican  National  Convention,  and  all  the  people 
represented  in  it,  my  profoundest  thanks  for  the  high  honor  done  me, 
which  you  now  formally  announce.  Deeply,  and  even  painfully  sensible 
of  the  great  responsibility  which  is  inseparable  from  this  high  honor — a 
responsibility  which  I  could  almost  wish  had  fallen  upon  some  one  of  the 
far  more  eminent  men  and  experienced  statesmen  whose  distinguished 
names  were  before  the  Convention — I  shall,  by  your  leave,  consider  more 
fully  the  resolutions  of  the  Convention,  denominated  the  platform,  and, 
without  any  unnecessary  or  unreasonable  delay,  respond  to  you,  Mr. 
Chairman,  in  writing,  not  doubting  that  the  platform  will  be  found  satis- 
factory, and  the  nomination  gratefully  accepted. 

And  now  I  will  not  longer  defer  the  pleasure  of  taking  you,  and  each  of 
you,  by  the  hand. 

Tall  Judge  Kelly,  of  Pennsylvania,  who  was  one  of  the 
committee,  and  who  is  himself  a  great  many  feet  high,  had 
meanwhile  been  eying  Mr.  Lincoln's  lofty  form  with  a 
mixture  of  admiration,  and  possibly  jealousy  ;  this  had 
not  escaped  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  as  he  shook  hands  with  the 
judge  he  inquired,   "  What  is  your  height  ?" 

11  Six  feet  three.     What  is  yours,  Mr.  Lincoln  V 

"  Six  feet  four.'' 

"  Then,"  said  the  judge,  "  Pennsylvania  bows  to  Illi 
nois.     My  dear  man,  for  years  my  heart  has  been  aching 
for  a  President  that  I  could  look  up  to,  and  I've  found  him 
at  last  in  the  land  where  we  thought  there  were  none  but 
Utile  giants." 

Mr.  Lincoln's  formal  reply  to  the  official  announcement 
of  his  nomination  was  as  follows  : — 

SpRiNariELD,  Illinois,  May  28,  I860. 
Sib  : — I  accept  the  nomination  tendered  me  by  the  Convention  over 
which  you  presided,  of  which  I  am  formally  apprised  in  a  letter  of  your- 
self and  others  acting  as  a  Committee  of  the  Convention  for  that  pur- 
pose. The  declaration  of  principles  and  sentiments  which  accompanies 
your  letter  meets  my  approval,  and  it  shall  be  my  care  not  to  violate  it, 


106  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

or  disregard  it  in  any  part.  Imploring  the  assistance  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, and  with  dne  regard  to  the  views  and  feelings  of  all  who  were 
represented  in  the  Convention,  to  the  rights  of  all  the  States  and  Territories 
and  people  of  the  nation,  to  the  inviolability  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
perpetual  union,  harmony,  and  prosperity  of  all,  I  am  most  happy  to  co- 
operate for  the  practical  success  of  tho  principles  declared  by  the  Con- 
vention.    Your  obliged  friend  and  fellow-citizen, 

A.BEAHAM  Lincoln. 
Hon.  Geoegb  Ashmun, 

President  of  the  Republican  Convention 

Mr.  Lincoln's  nomination  proved  universally  acceptable 
to  the  Republican  party.  Its  members  recognized  in  him 
a  man  of  firm  principles,  of  ardent  love  for  freedom,  of 
strict  integrity  and  truth,  and  they  went  into  the  political 
contest  with  a  zeal  and  enthusiasm  which  was  the  guaran- 
tee of  victory  ;  while  the  doubt  and  uncertainty,  the 
divided  counsels  and  wavering  purposes  of  their  oppo- 
nents were  the  sure  precursors  of  defeat. 

His  nomination  was  the  signal  to  the  leaders  of  the 
slaveholders'  party  for  pressing  upon  the  Democratic  Con- 
vention their  most  ultra  views,  that  by  the  division  of  the 
Democratic  forces  the  victory  of  Mr.  Lincoln  might  be 
assured,  and  the  pretext  afforded  them  for  carrying  into 
execution  the  plot  against  the  liberties  of  the  country 
which  they  had  been  for  so  many  years  maturing.  That 
they  would  dare  to  carry  their  threat  of  rebellion  into  exe- 
cution, was  not  believed  at  the  North.  If  it  had  been, 
while  it  might  have  frightened  away  some  votes  from  Mr. 
Lincoln,  it  would  have  brought  him  substantial  acces- 
eions  from  the  ranks  of  those  who,  though  following  the 
Democratic  banner,  had  not  learned  to  disregard  the  good 
old  doctrine  that  the  majority  must  rule,  and  who  would 
have  rushed  to  its  rescue,  if  they  had  believed  that  it  was 
really  threatened.  The  vote  which  he  received  on  Novem- 
ber 6,  1860,  was  that  of  a  solid  phalanx  of  earnest  men, 
who  had  resolved  that  freedom  should  henceforth  be 
national,  and  that  slavery  should  remain  as  the  framers  of 
the  Constitution  intended  that  it  should  remain 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  107 


CHAPTER    IV. 

FROM  THE  ELECTION,  NOV.  6,  1860,  TO  THE  INAUGURATION, 
MARCH   4,  1861. 

The  Presidential  Election. — Secession  of  South  Carolina. — Forma- 
tion op  the  Eebel  Confederacy. — The  Objects  of  Secession. — Se- 
cession Movements  in  Washington. — Debates  in  Congress. — The 
Crittenden  Resolutions. — Conciliatory  Action  of  Congress. — The 
Peace  Conference. — Action  of  Congress. — The  Secession  Move- 
ment Unchecked. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  elected  to  be  President  of  the 
United  States  on  the  sixth  day  of  November,  1860.  The 
preliminary  canvass  had  not  been  marked  by  any  very 
extraordinary  features.  Party  lines  were  a  good  deal 
broken  up,  and  four  presidential  candidates  were  in 
the  field  ;  but  this  departure  from  the  ordinary  course  of 
party  contests  had  occurred  more  than  once  in  the  pre- 
vious political  history  of  the  country.  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
put  in  nomination  by  the  Republican  party,  and  repre- 
sented in  his  life  and  opinions  the  precise  aim  and  object 
for  which  that  party  had  been  formed.  He  was  a  native 
of  a  slaveholding  State  ;  and  while  he  had  been  opposed 
to  slavery,  he  had  regarded  it  as  a  local  institution,  the 
creature  of  local  laws,  with  which  the  National  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  had  nothing  whatever  to  do. 
But,  in  common  with  all  observant  public  men,  he  had 
watched  with  distrust  and  apprehension  the  advance  of 
slavery,  as  an  element  of  political  power,  towards  ascend- 
ency in  the  Government  of  the  nation,  and  had  cordially 
co-operated  with  those  who  thought  it  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  the  future  well-being  of  the  country  that  this 
advance  should  be  checked.  He  had,  therefore,  op- 
posed very  strenuously  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the 
Territories,  and  had  asserted  the  right  and  the  duty  of 
Congress  to  exclude  it  by  positive  legislation  there- 
from. 


108  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

The  Chicago  Convention,  which  nominated  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, adopted  a  platform  of  which  this  was  the  cardinal 
feature  ;  but  it  also  took  good  care  to  repel  the  imputa- 
tion of  its  political  opponents,  and  to  remove  the  appre- 
hensions of  the  South,  that  the  party  proposed  to  interfere 
with  slavery  in  the  States  whose  laws  gave  it  support 
and  protection.  It  expressly  disavowed  all  authority 
and  all  wish  for  such  interference,  and  declared  its  pur- 
pose to  protect  the  Southern  States  in  the  free  enjoyment 
of  all  their  constitutional  rights.  The  Democratic  Con- 
vention, originally  assembled  at  Charleston,  was  disposed 
to  make  Mr.  Douglas  its  candidate  in  opposition  to  Mr. 
Lincoln  ;  but  this  purpose  was  thwarted  by  leading  pol- 
iticians of  the  slaveholding  States,  who  procured  the 
nomination  of  Mr.  Breckinridge,  with  full  knowledge  of 
the  fact  that  this  would  divide  the  Democratic  party,  and 
in  all  probability  secure  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Mr. 
Breckinridge  represented  the  pro-slavery  element  of  the 
Democratic  party,  and  asserted  the  duty  of  the  National 
Government,  by  a  positive  exercise  of  its  legislative  and 
executive  power,  to  protect  slavery  in  the  Territories 
against  any  legislation  either  of  Congress  or  of  the  people 
of  the  Territories  themselves,  which  should  seek  to  impair 
in  any  degree  the  right,  alleged  to  be  recognized  in  the 
Constitution,  of  property  in  slaves.  Mr.  Douglas  sup- 
ported the  theory  that  the  people  of  the  Territories, 
acting  tnrough  their  territorial  legislature,  had  the  same 
right  to  decide  this  question  for  themselves  as  they  had 
to  decide  any  other  ;  and  he  represented  this  principle  in 
opposition  to  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  one  hand,  and  Mr. 
Breckinridge  on  the  other,  in  the  presidential  canvass. 
John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  was  also  made  a  candidate  by 
the  action  mainly  of  men  who  were  dissatisfied  with  all 
the  existing  political  parties,  and  who  were  alarmed  at 
the  probable  results  of  a  presidential  election  which 
promised  to  be  substantially  sectional  in  its  character. 
They  put  forth,  therefore,  no  opinions  upon  the  leading 
points  in  controversy ;  and  went  into  the  canvass  with 
f'the  Constitution,  the  Union,  and  the  enforcement  of  the 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  109 

laws"  as  their  platform, — one  upon  which  they  could 
easily  have  rallied  all  the  people  of  all  sections  of  the 
country,  but  for  the  fact,  which  they  seemed  to  overlook, 
that  the  widest  possible  differences  of  opinion  prevailed 
among  the  people  as  to  its  meaning. 

All  sections  of  the  country  took  part  in  the  election. 
The  Southern  States  were  quite  as  active  and  quite  as 
zealous  as  the  Northern  in  carrying  on  the  canvass. 
Public  meetings  were  held,  the  newspaper  press,  South 
as  well  as  North,  discussed  the  issues  involved  with 
energy  and  vigor,  and  every  thing  on  the  surface  indi- 
cated the  usual  termination  of  the  contest,  the  triumph  of 
one  party  and  the  peaceful  acquiescence  of  all  others. 
The  result,  however,  showed  that  this  was  a  mistake. 
The  active  and  controlling  politicians  of  the  Southern 
States  had  gone  into  the  canvass  with  the  distinct  and 
well-formed  purpose  of  acquiescing  in  the  result  only  in 
the  event  of  its  g  ving  them  the  victory.  The  election 
took  place  on  the  6th  of  November.  Mr.  Lincoln  re- 
ceived the  electoral  votes  of  all  the  Free  States  except 
New  Jersey,  which  was  divided,  giving  him  four  votes 
and  Mr.  Douglas  three  Mr.  Breckinridge  received  the 
electoral  votes  of  all  the  Slave  States  except  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  and  Virginia,  which  voted  for  Bell,  and  Mis- 
souri, which  voted  for  Douglas,  as  did  three  electors  from 
New  Jersey  also.  Of  the  popular  vote,  Lincoln  received 
1,857,610;  Douglas,  1,365,976  ;  Breckinridge,  847,953 ; 
and  Bell,  590,631.  In  the  Electoral  College,  Lincoln 
received  180  votes,  Douglas  12,  Breckinridge  72,  and 
Bell  39. 

As  soon  as  the  result  of  the  election  was  known, 
various  movements  in  the  Southern  States  indicated  their 
purpose  of  resistance ;  and  it  soon  became  evident  that 
this  purpose  had  been  long  cherished,  and  that  members 
of  the  Government  under  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Buchanan 
had  officially  given  it  their  sanction  and  aid  On  the 
29th  of  October,  General  Scott  sent  to  the  President  and 
John  B.  Floyd,  his  Secretary  of  War,  a  letter  expressing 
apprehensions  lest  the  Southern  people  should  seize  some 


ilO  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

of  the  Federal  forts  in  the  Southern  States,  and  advising 
that  they  should  be  immediately  garrisoned  by  way  of 
precaution.  The  Secretary  of  War,  according  to  state- 
ments subsequently  made  by  one  of  his  eulogists  in 
Virginia,  "thwarted,  objected,  resisted,  and  forbade'* 
the  adoption  of  those  measures,  which,  according  to  the 
same  authority,  if  carried  into  execution,  would  have 
defeated  the  conspiracy,  and  rendered  impossible  the 
formation  of  a  Southern  Confederacy.  An  official  report 
from  the  Ordnance  Department,  dated  January  16,  1861, 
also  shows  that  during  the  year  1860,  and  previous  to 
the  presidential  election,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thou- 
sand muskets  had  been  removed  from  Northern  armories 
and  sent  to  Southern  arsenals  by  a  single  order  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  issued  on  the  30th  of  December,  1859. 
On  the  20th  of  November,  the  Attorney  General,  Hon. 
John  S.  Black,  in  reply  to  inquiries  of  the  President, 
gave  him  the  official  opinion  that  Congress  had  no  right 
to  carry  on  war  against  any  State,  either  to  prevent  a 
threatened  violation  of  the  Constitution  or  to  enforce  an 
acknowledgment  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
is  supreme :  and  it  soon  became  evident  that  the  Presi- 
dent adopted  this  theory  as  the  basis  and  guide  of  his 
executive  action. 

South  Carolina  took  the  lead  in  the  secession  movement. 
Her  legislature  assembled  on  the  4th  of  November,  1860, 
and,  after  casting  the  electoral  vote  of  the  State  for  John 
C.  Breckinridge  to  be  President  of  the  United  States, 
passed  an  act  the  next  day  calling  a  State  Convention,  to 
meet  at  Columbia  on  the  17th  of  December.  On  the  10th, 
b\  W.  Pitkens  was  elected  Governor,  and,  in  his  inaugu- 
ral, declared  the  determination  of  the  State  to  secede,  on 
the  ground  that,  uin  the  recent  election  for  President  and 
Vice-President,  the  North  had  carried  the  election  upon 
principles  that  make  it  no  longer  safe  for  us  to  rely  upon 
the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government  or  the  guarantees 
of  the  Federal  compact.  This,"  he  added,  "  is  the  great 
overt  act  of  the  people  of  the  Northern  States,  who  pro- 
pose to  inaugurate  a  chief  magistrate  not  to  preside  over 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  Ill 

the  common  interests  or  destinies  of  all  States  alike,  but 
upon  issues  of  malignant  hostility  and  uncompromising 
war  to  be  waged  upon  the  rights,  the  interests,  and  the 
peace  of.  half  of  the  States  of  this  Union."  The  Conven- 
tion met  on  the  17th  of  December,  and  adjourned  the  next 
day  to  Charleston,  on  account  of  the  prevalence  of  small- 
pox at  Columbia.  On  the  20th  an  ordinance  was  passed 
unanimously  repealing  the  ordinance  adopted  May  23, 
1788,  whereby  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was 
ratified,  and  "dissolving  the  Union  now  subsisting  be- 
tween South  Carolina  and  other  States  under  the  name  of 
the  United  States  of  America ;"  and  on  the  24th  the  Gov- 
ernor issued  his  proclamation,  declaring  the  State  of 
South  Carolina  to  be  a  "  separate,  sovereign,  free,  and 
independent  State." 

This  was  the  first  act  of  secession  passed  by  any  State. 
The  debates  in  the  State  "Convention  show  clearly  enough 
that  it  was  not  taken  under  the  impulse  of  resentment  for 
any  sharp  and  remediless  wrong,  nor  in  apprehension  that 
any  such  wrong  would  be  inflicted ;  but  in  pursuance  of 
a  settled  and  long-cherished  purpose.  In  that  debate  Mr. 
Parker  said  that  the  movement  was  "no  spasmodic  effort 
— it  had  been  gradually  culminating  for  a  long  series  of 
years."  Mr.  Inglis  indorsed  this  remark,  and  added, 
"  Most  of  us  have  had  this  matter  under  consideration  for 
the  last  twenty  years."  Mr.  L.  M.  Keitt  said,  "I  have 
been  engaged  in  this  movement  ever  since  I  entered  polit- 
ical life."  And  Mr.  Rhett,  who  had  been  for  many  years 
in  the  public  service,  declared  that  "the  secession  of 
South  Carolina  was  not  the  event  of  a  day.  It  is  not," 
said  he,  "any  thing  produced  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  election, 
or  by  the  non-execution  of  the  fugitive  slave  law.  It 
is  a  matter  which  has  been  gathering  head  for  thirty  years. 
The  election  of  Lincoln  and  Hamlin  was  the  last  straw  on 
the  back  of  the  camel.  But  it  was  not  the  only  one.  The 
back  was  nearly  broken  before."  So  far  as  South  Caro- 
lina was  concerned,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  her  action 
was  decided  by  men  who  had  been  plotting  disunion  for 
thirty  years,  not  On  account  of  any  wrongs  her  people  had 


112  The  Life,  Public  Services)  and 

sustained  at  the  hands  of  the  Federal  Government,  but 
from  motives  of  personal  and  sectional  ambition,  and  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  a  government  which  should  he 
permanently  and  completely  in  the  interest  of  slavery. 

But  the  disclosures  which  have  since  been  made,  imper- 
fect comparatively  as  they  are,  prove  clearly  that  the 
whole  secession  movement  was  in  the  hands  of  a  few 
conspirators,  who  had  their  head-quarters  at  the  national 
capital,  and  were  themselves  closely  connected  with  the 
Government  of  the  United  States.  A  secret  meeting  of 
these  men  was  held  at  Washington  on  the  night  of  the 
5th  of  January,  1861,  at  which  the  Senators  from  Georgia, 
Alabama,  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Texas,  Mississippi,  and 
Florida  were  present.  They  decided,  by  resolutions,  that 
each  of  the  Southern  States  should  secede  from  the  Union 
as  soon  as  possible ;  that  a  convention  of  seceding  States 
should  be  held  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  not  later  than 
the  15th  of  February ;  and  that  the  Senators  and  Members 
of  Congress  from  the  Southern  States  ought  to  remain  in 
their  seats  as  long  as  possible,  in  order  to  defeat  measures 
that  might  be  proposed  at  Washington  hostile  to  the  seces- 
sion movement.  Davis  of  Mississippi,  Slidell  of  Louis- 
iana, and  Mallory  of  Florida,  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  carry  these  decisions  into  effect ;  and,  in  pursuance 
of  them,  Mississippi  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession 
January  9th  ;  Alabama  and  Florida,  January  11th  ;  Louis- 
iana, January  26th,  and  Texas,  February  5th.  All  these 
acts,  as  well  as  all  which  followed,  were  simply  the  execu- 
tion of  the  behests  of  this  secret  conclave  of  conspirators 
who  had  resolved  upon  secession.  In  all  the  conventions 
of  the  seceding  States,  delegates  were  appointed  to  meet 
at  Montgomery.  In  not  one  of  them  was  the  question  of 
secession  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people  ;  although  in 
some  of  them  the  legislatures  had  expressly  forbidden 
them  to  pass  any  ordinance  of  secession  without  making 
its  validity  depend  on  its  ratification  by  the  popular  vote. 
The  Convention  met  at  Montgomery  on  the  4th  of  Febru- 
ary, and  adopted  a  provisional  constitution,  to  continue 
in  operation  for  one  year.    Under  this  constitution  Jeffer 


State  Papers  op  Abraham  Lincoln.  113 

son  Davis  was  elected  President  of  the  new  Confederacy, 
and  Alex.  H.  Stephens,  of  Georgia,  Vice-President.  Both 
were  inaugurated  on  the  18th.  In  an  address  delivered  on 
his  arrival  at  Montgomery,  Mr.  Davis  declared  that  "the 
time  for  compromise  has  now  passed,  and  the  South  is 
determined  to  maintain  her  position,  and  make  all  who 
oppose  her  smell  Southern  powder  and  feel  Southern, 
steel,  if  coercion  is  persisted  in."  He  felt  sure  of  the 
result ;  it  might  be  they  would  "  have  to  encounter  incon- 
veniences at  the  beginning,"  but  he  had  no  doubts  of  the 
final  issue.  The  first  part  of  his  anticipation  has  been 
fully  realized  ;  the  end  has  hardly  proved  to  be  as  peace- 
ful and  satisfactory  as  he  predicted. 

The  policy  of  the  new  Confederacy  towards  the  United 
States  was  soon  officially  made  known.  The  government 
decided  to  maintain  the  status  quo  until  the  expiration  of 
Mr.  Buchanan's  term,  feeling  assured  that,  with  his  de- 
clared belief  that  it  would  be  unconstitutional  to  coerce  a 
State,  they  need  apprehend  from  his  administration  no 
active  hostility  to  their  designs.  They  had  some  hope 
thaft,  by  the  4th  of  March,  their  new  Confederacy  would 
be  so  far  advanced  that  the  new  Administration  might 
waive  its  purpose  of  coercion ;  and  they  deemed  it  wise 
not  to  do  any  thing  which  should  rashly  forfeit  the  favor 
and  support  of  "that  very  large  portion  of  the  North 
whose  moral  sense  was  on  their  side."  Nevertheless,  they 
entered  upon  prompt  and  active  preparations  for  war. 
Contracts  were  made  in  various  parts  of  the  South  for  the 
manufacture  of  powder,  shell,  cannon-balls,  and  other 
munitions  of  war.  Recruiting  was  set  on  foot  in  several 
of  the  States.  A  plan  was  adopted  for  the  organization 
of  a  regular  army  of  the  Confederacy,  and  on  the  6th  of 
March  Congress  passed  an  act  authorizing  a  military  force 
of  one  hundred  thousand  men. 

Thus  was  opened  a  new  chapter  in  the  history  of  Amer- 
ica. Thus  were  taken  the  first  steps  towards  overthrow- 
ing the  Government  and  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  establishing  a  new  nation,  with  a  new  Constitution, 
resting  upon  new  principles,  and  aiming  at  new  results. 


Hi  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  ordained  "  in 
order  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union,  establish  justice,  in- 
sure domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence, 
promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of 
Liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity."  We  have  the 
clear  and  explicit  testimony  of  A.  H.  Stephens,  the  Vice- 
President  of  the  rebel  Confederacy,  echoing  and  reaffirm- 
ing that  of  the  whole  civilized  world  to  the  fact,  tha 
these  high  and  noble  objects — the  noblest  and  the  grandest 
at  which  human  institutions  can  aim — have  been  more 
nearly  attained  in  the  practical  working  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  than  anywhere  else  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.  "  I  look  upon  this  country,  with  our  insti- 
tutions," said  Mr.  Stephens  before  the  legislature  of 
Georgia,  on  the  14th  of  November,  1860,  after  the  result 
of  the  presidential  election  was  known,  "  as  the  Eden  of 
the  world,  the  paradise  of  the  universe.  It  may  be  that 
out  of  it  we  may  become  greater  and  more  prosperous, 
but  I  am  candid  and  sincere  in  telling  you  that  I  fear,  if 
we  rashly  evince  passion,  and  without  sufficient  cause 
shall  take  that  step,  that  instead  of  becoming  greater,  01 
more  peaceful,  prosperous,  and  happy — instead  of  becom 
ing  gods  we  will  become  demons,  and  at  no  distant  day 
commence  cutting  each  others  throats."  Mr.  Stephens 
on  that  occasion  went  on,  in  a  strain  of  high  patriotism 
and  common  sense,  to  speak  of  the  proposed  secession  of 
the  State  of  Georgia,  in  language  which  will  forever  stand 
as  a  judicial  condemnation  of  the  action  of  the  rebel  States. 
1 '  The  first  question  that  presents  itself,"  said  Mr.  Stephens, 
"  is,  shall  the  people  of  the  South  secede  from  the  Union 
in  consequence  of  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Presi- 
dency of  the  United  States  ?  My  countrymen,  I  tell  you 
candidly,  frankly,  and  earnestly,  that  I  do  not  think  that 
fchey  ought.  In  my  judgment  the  election  of  no  man,  con- 
stitutionally chosen  to  that  high  office,  is  sufficient  cause 
for  any  State  to  separate  from  the  Union.  It  ought  to 
stand  by  and  aid  still  in  maintaining  the  Constitution  of 
the  country.  To  make  a  point  of  resistance  to  the  gov- 
ernment, to  withdraw  from  it  because  a  man  has  been 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  1!o 

constitutionally  elected,  puts  us  in  the  wrong.  *  *  We 
went  into  the  election  with  this  people.  The  result  was . 
different  from  what  we  wished  ;  but  the  election  has  been 
constitutionally  held.  Were  we  to  make  a  point  of  resist- 
ance to  the  Government,  and  go  out  of  the  Union  on  this 
account,  the  record  would  be  made  up  hereafter  against 
us." 

After  the  new  confederacy  had  been  organized,  and  Mr. 
Stephens  had  been  elected  its  Vice-President,  he  made  an 
elaborate  speech  to  the  citizens  of  Savannah,  in  which  he 
endeavored  to  vindicate  this  attempt  to  establish  a  new 
government  in  place  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  set  forth  the  new  principles  upon  which  ii 
was  to  rest,  and  which  were  to  justify  the  movement  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world  and  of  impartial  posterity.  That 
exposition  is  too  important  to  be  omitted  here.  It  is  the 
most  authoritative  and  explicit  statement  of  the  character 
and  objects  of  the  new  government  which  has  ever  beea 
made.     Mr.  Stephens  said : — 

"  The  new  constitution  has  pnt  at  rest  forever  all  agitating  questions 
relating  to  our  peculiar  institutions — African  slavery,  as  it  exists  among 
us — the  proper  status  of  the  negro  in  our  form  of  civilization.  This  was 
the  immediate  cause  of  the  late  rupture  and  present  revolution.  Jeffer- 
son, in  his  forecast,  had  anticipated  this,  as  tne  '  rock  upon  which  the  old 
Union  would  split.'  He  was  right.  What  was  conjecture  with  him,  is 
now  a  realized  fact.  But  whether  he  fully  comprehended  the  great 
truth  upon  which  that  rock  stood  and  stands,  may  be  doubted.  The 
prevailing  ideas  entertained  by  him,  and  most  of  the  leading  statesmen  at 
the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  old  Constitution,  were,  that  the  enslave- 
ment of  the  African  was  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature;  that  it  was 
wrong  in  principle,  socially,  morally,  and  politically.  It  was  an  evil  they 
knew  not  well  how  to  deal  with ;  but  the  general  opinion  of  the  men  of 
that  day  was,  that,  somehow  or  other,  in  the  order  of  Providence,  the 
institution  would  be  evanescent  and  pass  away.  This  idea,  though  not 
incorporated  in  the  Constitution,  was  the  prevailing  idea  at  the  time. 
The  Constitution,  it  is  true,  secured  every  essential  guarantee  to  the  insti 
tution  while  it  should  last,  and  hence  no  argument  can  be  justly  used 
against  the  constitutional  guarantees  thus  secured,  because  of  the  com- 
mon sentiment  of  the  day.  Those  ideas,  however,  were  fundamentally 
wrong.  They  rested  upon  the  assumption  of  the  equality  of  races.  This 
was  ac  error.     It  was  a  sandy  foundation,  and  the  idea  of  a  government 


116  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

built  upon  it  was  wrong — when  the  'storm  came  and  the  wind  Mew,  it 
fell.' 

"Our  new  government  is  founded  upon  exactly  the  opposite  ideas;  ita 
foundations  are  laid,  its  corner-stone  rests,  upon  the  great  truth  that  the 
negro  is  not  equal  to  the  white  man ;  that  slavery,  subordination  to  the 
superior  race,  is  his  natural  and  normal  condition.  This,  our  new  govern- 
ment, is  the  first  in  the  history  of  the  world,  based  upon  this  great  physi- 
cal, philosophical,  and  moral  truth.  This  truth  has  been  slow  in  the  pro- 
cess of  its  development,  like  all  other  truths  in  the  various  department* 
of  science.  It  is  even  so  amongst  us.  Many  who  hear  me,  perhaps,  can 
recollect  well  that  this  truth  was  not  generally  admitted  even  within  their 
day.  The  errors  of  the  past  generation  still  clung  to  many  as  late  as 
twenty  years  ago.  Those  at  the  North  who  still  cling  to  these  errors 
with  a  zeal  above  knowledge,  we  justly  denominate  fanatics.  All  fanat- 
icism springs  from  an  aberration  of  the  mind;  from  a  defect  in  reasoning. 
It  is  a  species  of  insanity.  One  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of 
insanity,  in  many  instances,  is  forming  correct  conclusions  from  fancied 
or  erroneous  premises;  so  with  the  anti-slavery  fanatics ;  their  conclusions 
are  right  if  their  premises  are.  They  assume  that  the  negro  is  equal,  and 
hence  conclude  that  he  is  entitled  to  equal  privileges  and  rights  with  the 
white  man.  If  their  premises  were  correct,  their  conclusions  would  be 
logical  and  just;  but  their  premises  being  wrong,  their  whole  argument 
fails,  I  recollect  once  of  having  heard  a  gentleman  from  one  of  the 
Northern  States,  of  great  power  and  ability,  announce  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  with  imposing  effect,  that  we  of  the  South  would  be  com- 
pelled, ultimately,  to  yield  upon  this  subject  of  slavery;  that  it  was  as 
impossible  to  war  successfully  against  a  principle  in  politics,  as  it  was  in 
physics  or  mechanics ;  that  the  principle  would  ultimately  prevail ;  that 
we,  in  maintaining  slavery  as  it  exists  with  us,  were  warring  against  a 
principle — a  principle  founded  in  nature,  the  principle  of  the  equality  of 
man.  The  reply  I  made  to  him  was,  that  upon  his  own  grounds  we 
should  succeed,  and  that  he  and  his  associates  in  their  crusade  against 
our  institutions  would  ultimately  fail.  The  truth  announced,  that  it  was 
as  impossible  to  war  successfully  against  a  principle  in  politics  as  it  was 
in  physics  or  mechanics,  I  admitted,  but  told  him  that  it  was  he  and 
those  acting  with  him  who  were  warring  against  a  principle.  They 
were  attempting  to  make  things  equal  which  the  Creator  had  made 
unequal. 

"In  the  conflict  thus  far,  success  has  been  on  our  side,  complete 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Confederate  States.  It  is  upon 
this,  as  I  have  stated,  our  social  fabric  is  firmly  planted ;  and  I  canuot 
permit  myself  to  doubt  the  ultimate  success  of  a  fall  recognition  of  this 
principle  throughout  the  civilized  and  enlightened  world." 

We  have  thus  traced  the  course  of  events  in  the  South- 
ern States  during  the  tbr^  \ronths  that  succeeded  the 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  ll1* 

election  of  President  Lincoln.  Let  us  now  see  what  took 
place  in  Washington  during  the  same  time.  Congress  met 
on  the  3d  of  December,  and  the  Message  of  President 
Buchanan  was  at  once  sent  in.  That  document  ascribed 
the  discontent  of  the  Southern  States  to  the  alleged  fact 
that  the  violent  agitation  in  the  North  against  slavery  had 
created  disaffection  among  the  slaves,  and  created  appre- 
hensions of  servile  insurrection.  The  President  vindicated 
the  hostile  action  of  the  South,  assuming  that  it  was 
prompted  by  these  apprehensions  ;  but  went  on  to  show 
that  there  was  no  right  on  the  part  of  any  State  to  secede 
from  the  Union,  while  at  the  same  time  he  contended  that 
the  General  Government  had  no  right  to  make  war  on  any 
State  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  it  from  seceding,  and 
closed  this  portion  of  his  Message  by  recommending  an 
amendment  of  the  Constitution  which  should  explicitly 
recognize  the  right  of  property  in  slaves,  and  provide  for 
the  protection  of  that  right  in  all  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States.  The  belief  that  the  people  of  South  Caro 
lina  would  make  an  attempt  to  seize  one  or  more  of  the 
forts  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston,  created  considerable 
uneasiness  at  Wasliington  ;  and  on  the  9th  of  December 
the  representatives  from  that  State  wrote  to  the  President 
expressing  their  " strong  convictions"  that  no  such  at- 
tempt would  be  made  previous  to  the  action  of  the  State 
Convention,  "provided  that  no  re-enforcements  should 
be  sent  into  those  forts,  and  their  relative  military  status 
shall  remain  as  at  present."  On  the  10th  of  December 
Howell  Cobb  resigned  his  office  as  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, and  on  the  14th  General  Cass  resigned  as  Secretary 
of  State.  The  latter  resigned  because  the  President 
refused  to  re -enforce  the  forts  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston. 
On  the  20th  the  State  of  South  Carolina  passed  the  ordi- 
nance of  secession,  and  on  the  26th  Major  Anderson  trans- 
ferred his  garrison  from  Fort  Moultrie  to  Fort  Sumter. 
On  the  29th  John  B.  Floyd  resigned  his  office  as  Secretary 
of  War,  alleging  that  the  action  of  Major  Anderson  was 
in  violation  of  pledges  given  by  the  Government  that  the 
military  status  of  the  forts  at  Charleston  should  remain 


118  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

unchanged,  and  that  the  President  had  declined  to  allow 
him  to  issue  an  order,  for  which  he  had  applied  on  the 
27th,  to  withdraw  the  garrison  from  the  harbor  of  Charles- 
ton. On  the  29th  of  December,  Messrs.  Barnwell,  Adams, 
and  Orr  arrived  at  Washington,  as  commissioners  from 
the  State  of  South  Carolina,  and  at  once  opened  a  corre- 
spondence with  President  Buchanan,  asking  for  the  deliv 
ery  of  the  forts  and  other  government  property  at  Charles- 
ton  to  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina.  The  President 
replied  on  the  30th,  reviewing  the  whole  question — stating 
that  in  removing  from  Fort  Moultrie,  Major  Anderson 
acted  solely  on  his  own  responsibility,  and  that  his  first 
impulse  on  hearing  of  it  was  to  order  him  to  return,  but 
that  the  occupation  of  the  fort  by  South  Carolina  and  the 
seizure  of  the  arsenal  at  Charleston  had  rendered  this 
impossible.  The  commissioners  replied  on  the  1st  of 
January,  1861,  insisting  that  the  President  had  pi  edged 
himself  to  maintain  the  status  of  affairs  in  Charleston 
harbor  previous  to  the  removal  of  Major  Anderson  from 
Fort  Moultrie,  and  calling  on  him  to  redeem  this  pledge. 
This  communication  the  President  returned. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  the  President  sent  a  message  to 
Congress,  calling  their  attention  to  the  condition  of  public 
affairs,  declaring  that  while  he  had  no  right  to  make  ag- 
gressive war  upon  any  State,  it  was  his  right  and  his 
duty  to  "use  military  force  defensively  against  those  who 
resist  the  Federal  officers  in  the  execution  of  their  legal 
functions,  and  against  those  who  assail  the  property  of 
the  Federal  Government  f  —but  throwing  the  whole  re- 
sponsibility of  meeting  the  extraordinary  emergencies  of 
the  occasion  upon  Congress.  On  the  same  day,  Jacob 
Thompson,  of  Mississippi,  resigned  his  office  as  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  because  the  Star  of  the  West  had  been 
sent  on  the  6th,  by  order  of  the  Government,  with  sup- 
plies for  Fort  Sumter,  in  violation,  as  he  alleged,  of  the 
decision  of  the  cabinet.  On  the  10th,  P.  F.  Thomas,  of 
Maryland,  who  had  replaced  Howell  Cobb  as  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  General 
John  A.  I)ix,  of  New  York. 


State  Papers  u*  Abraham  Lincoln.  Ill) 

The  debates  and  the  action  of  Congress  throughout  tlie 
session  related  mainly  to  the  questions  at  issue  between 
the  two  sections.  The  discussion  opened  on  the  3d  of 
December,  as  soon  as  the  President's  Message  had  been 
read.  The  Southern  Senators  generally  treated  the  elec- 
tion of  the  previous  November  as  having  been  a  virtual 
decision  against  the  equality  and  rights  of  the  slavehold 
mg  States.  The  Eepublicah  members  disavowed  this  con- 
struction, and  proclaimed  their  willingness  to  adopt  any 
just  and  proper  measures  which  would  quiet  the  appre- 
hensions of  the  South,  while  they  insisted  that  the 
authority  of  the  Constitution  should  be  maintained,  and 
the  constitutional  election  of  a  President  should  be  re- 
spected. At  the  opening  of  the  session,  Mr.  Powell,  of 
Kentucky,  in  the  Senate,  moved  the  reference  of  that 
portion  of  the  President's  Message  which  related  to  the 
sectional  difficulties  of  the  country,  to  a  select  committee 
of  thirteen.  This  resolution  being  adopted,  Mr.  Critten 
den  immediately  afterwards  introduced  a  series  of  joint 
resolutions,  embodying  what  came  to  be  known  after- 
wards as  the  Crittenden  Compromise — proposing  to  sub- 
mit to  the  action  of  the  people  of  the  several  States  the 
following  amendments  to  the  Constitution  : — 

1.  Prohibiting  slavery  in  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States  north  of 
#6°  30',  and  protecting  it  as  property  in  all  territory  south  of  that  line  j 
and  admitting  into  the  Union,  with  or  without  slavery,  as  its  Constitution 
might  provide,  any  State  that  might  be  formed  out  of  such  territory, 
whenever  its  population  should  be  sufficient  to  entitle  it  to  a  oember  <A 
t  Congress. 

2.  Prohibiting  Congress  from  abolishing  slavery  in  places  under  itt 
exclusive  jurisdiction  within  Slave  States. 

3.  Prohibiting  Congress  from  abolishing  slavery  within  the  District  of 
Columbia,  so  long  as  slavery  should  exist  in  Virginia  or  Maryland;  or 
without  the  consent  of  the  inhabitants,  or  without  just  compensation  to 
the  owners. 

4.  Prohibiting  Congress  from  hindering  the  transportation  of  slave* 
from  one  State  to  another,  or  to  a  Territory  in  which  slavery  is  allowed. 

5.  Providing  that  where  a  fugitive  slave  is  lost  to  his  owner  by  violent 
resistance  to  the  execution  of  the  process  of  the  law  for  his  recovery,  the 
tfnxted  States  shall  pay  to  said  ov>  ner  his  full  value,  and  may  recover  the 

from  the  countv  in  which  such  rescue  occurred 


120  The  Life,  Public  Service?,  and 

6.  These  provisions  were  declared  to  be  unchangeable  by  any  future 
amendment  of  the  Constitution,  as  were  also  the  existing  articles  relating 
feo  the  representation  of  slaves  and  the  Bmre*»«*«r  ^f  ^gitives. 

Besides  these  proposed  amendments  of  the  Constitution, 
Mr  Crittenden's  resolutions  embodied  certain  declara- 
tions m  affirmance  of  the  constitutionality  and  binding 
force  of  the  fugitive  slave  law — recommending  the  repeal 
by  the  States  of  all  bills,  the  effect  of  which  was  to 
hinder  the  execution  of  that  law,  proposing  to  amend  it 
by  equalizing  its  fees,  and  urging  the  effectual  execution 
of  the  law  for  the  suppression  of  the  African  slave-trade. 

These  resolutions  were  referred  to  the  Committee  of 
Thirteen,  ordered  on  Mr.  Powell's  motion,  and  composed 
of  the  following  senators  : — 

Messrs.  Powell,  Hunter,  Crittenden,  Seward,  Toombs,  Douglas,  Colla- 
mer,  Davis,  Wade,  Bigler,  Rice,  Doolittle,  and  Grimes. 

On  the  31st  of  December,  this  committee  reported  that 
they  "  had  not  been  able  to  agree  upon  any  general  plan 
of  adjustment."  The  whole  subject  was  nevertheless 
discussed  over  and  over  again  during  the  residue  of  the 
session  ;  but  no  final  action  was  taken  until  the  very  day 
of  its  close.  On  the  21st  of  January,  Messrs.  Yulee  and 
Mallory,  of  Florida,  resigned  their  seats  in  the  Senate, 
because  their  State  had  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession ; 
and  on  the  28th,  Mr.  Iverson,  of  Georgia,  followed  their 
example.  Messrs.  Clay  and  Fitzpatrick,  of  Alabama, 
and  Mr.  Davis,  of  Mississippi,  followed  next,  and,  on  the 
4th  of  February,  Messrs.  Slidell  and  Benjamin,  of  Louis- 
iana, also  took  their  leave. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  the  debates  took  the 
same  general  direction  as  in  the  Senate.  On  the  first  day 
of  the  session  a  resolution  was  adopted,  by  a  vote  of  one 
hundred  and  forty -five  to  thirty-eight,  to  refer  so  much 
of  the  President's  Message  as  related  to  the  perilous  con- 
dition of  the  country,  to  a  committee  of  one  from  each 
State.     This  committee  was  appointed  as  follows  :*  - 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  12] 

Corwin  of  Ohio.  Dunn  of  Indiana. 

Millson  of  Virginia.  Taylor  of  Louisiana. 

Adams  of  Massachusetts.  Davis  of  Mississippi. 

Winslow  of  North  Carolina.  Kellogg  of  Illinois. 

Humphrey  of  New  York.  Houston  of  Alabama. 

Boyce  of  South  Carolina.  Morse  of  Maine. 

Campbell  of  Pennsylvania.  Phelps  of  Missouri. 

Love  of  Georgia.  Rust  of  Arkansas. 

Ferry  of  Connecticut.  Howard  of  Michigan. 

Davis  of  Maryland.  Hawkins  of  Florida. 

Robinson  of  Rhode  Island.  Hamilton  of  Texas. 

Whitely  of  Delaware.  Washburn  of  Wisconsin. 

Tappan  of  New  Hampshire.  Curtis  of  Iowa. 

Stratton  of  New  Jersey.  Birch  of  California. 

Bristow  of  Kentucky.  Windom  of  Minnesota. 

Morrill  of  Vermont.  Stark  of  Oregon. 
Nelson  of  Tennessee. 

A  great  variety  of  resolutions  were  offered  and  referred 
to  this  committee.  In  a  few  days  the  committee  reported 
the  following  series  of  resolutions,  and  recommended 
their  adoption  : — 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
$f  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  all  attempts  on  the  parts  of  the 
legislatures  of  any  of  the  States  to  obstruct  or  hinder  the  recovery  and 
surrender  of  fugitives  from  service  or  labor,  are  in  derogation  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  inconsistent  with  the  comity  and  good 
neighborhood  that  should  prevail  among  the  several  States,  and  danger- 
ous to  the  peace  of  the  Union. 

Resolved,  That  the  several  States  be  respectfully  requested  to  cause 
their  statutes  to  be  revised,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  if  any  of  them  are 
in  ccnflict  with,  or  tend  to  embarrass  or  hinder  the  execution  of,  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  made  in  pursuance  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth 
article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  for  the  delivering  up  of 
persons  held  to  labor  by  the  laws  of  any  State  and  escaping^  therefrom  • 
and  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  earnestly  request  that  all 
enactments  having  such  tendency  be  forthwith  repealed,  as  required  by  a 
just  sense  of  constitutional  obligations,  and  by  a  due  regard  for  the  peace 
of  the  Republic ;  and  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  requested  to 
communicate  these  resolutions  to  the  governors  of  the  several  States. 
with  a  request  that  they  will  lay  the  same  before  the  legislatures  thereof, 
Tespectively. 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  slavery  as  now  existing  in  fifteen  of  the 
United  States  by  the  usages  and  laws  of  those  States ;  and  we  recognize 
no  authority,  legally  or  otherwise,  outside  of  a  State  where  it  so  exists,  to 


122  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

interfere  with  slaves  or  slavery  in  such  States,  in  disregard  of  the  rights 
of  their  owners  or  the  peace  of  society. 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  the  justice  and  propriety  of  a  faithful 
execution  of  the  Constitution,  and  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  on  the 
subject  of  fugitive  slaves,  or  fugitives  from  service  or  labor,  and  discoun- 
tenance all  mobs  or  hindrances  to  the  execution  of  such  laws,  and  that 
citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities. 
of  citizens  in  the  several  States.  > 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  no  such  conflicting  elements  in  its  compo- 
sition, or  sufficient  cause  from  any  source,  for  a  dissolution  of  this  Gov- 
ernment; that  we  were  not  sent  here  to  destroy,  but  to  sustain  and 
harmonize  the  institutions  of  the  country,  and  to  see  that  equal  justice  is 
done  to  all  parts  of  the  same ;  and,  finally,  to  perpetuate  its  existence  on 
terms  of  equality  and  justice  to  all  the  States. 

Resolved,  That  a  faithful  observance,  on  the  part  of  all  the  States,  of 
all  their  constitutional  obligations  to  each  other  and  to  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, is  essential  to  the  peace  of  the  country. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal  Government  to  enforce  the 
Federal  laws,  protect  the  Federal  property,  and  preserve  the  Union  of 
these  States. 

Resoloed,  That  each  State  be  requested  to  revise  its  statutes,  and,  if 
necessary,  so  to  amend  the  same  as  to  secure,  without  legislation  by  Con- 
gress, to  citizens  of  other  States  travelling  therein,  the  same  protection  as 
citizens  of  such  States  enjoy ;  and  also  to  protect  the  citizens  of  other 
States  travelling  or  sojourning  therein  against  popular  violence  or  illegal 
summary  punishment,  without  trial  in  due  form  of  law  for  imputed 
crimes. 

Resolved,  That  each  State  be  also  respectfully  requested  to  enact  such 
laws  as  will  prevent  and  punish  any  attempt  whatever  in  such  State  to 
recognize  or  set  on  foot  the  lawless  invasion  of  any  other  State  0*  Terri- 
tory. 

Resolved,  That  the  President  be  requested  to  transmit  copies  of  the 
foregoing  resolutions  to  the  Governors  of  the  several  States,  with  a  request 
that  they  be  communicated  to  their  respective  legislatures. 

These  resolutions  were  intended  and  admirably  cal- 
culated to  calm  the  apprehensions  of  the  people  of  the 
slaveholding  States  as  to  any  disposition  on  the  part  of 
the  Federal  Government  to  interfere  with  slavery,  or 
withhold  from  them  any  of  their  constitutional  rights ; 
and  in  a  House  controlled  by  a  large  Republican  majority, 
they  were  adopted  by  a  vote  of  ayes  one  hundred  and 
thirty-six,  noes  fifty-three.  Not  content  with  this  effort 
to  satisfy  all  just  complaints  on  the  part  of  the  Southern 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  123 

States,  the  same  committee  reported  the  following  resolu- 
tion, recommending  such  an  amendment  of  the  Constitu- 
tion as  should  put  it  forever  out  of  the  power  of  the 
government  or  people  of  the  United  States  to  interfere 
with  slavery  in  any  of  the  States  : — 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  Senate  and  Hov.se  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled  (two-thirds  of  both  Houses  con- 
curring), That  the  following  article  be  proposed  to  the  legislatures  cf 
the  several  States  as  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  which,  when  ratified  by  three-fourths  of  said  legislatures,  shall 
be  valid,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  a  part  of  the  said  Constitution, 
namely : 

Art.  12.  No  amendment  shall  be  made  to  the  Constitution  which  will 
authorize,  or  give  to  Congress  the  power  to  abolish  or  interfere,  within 
any  State,  with  the  domestic  institutions  thereof,  including  that  of  per- 
sons held  to  labor  or  service  by  the  laws  of  said  State. 

This  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty-three  to  sixty-five — more  than  two-thirds  in 
its  favor.  This  closed  the  action  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives at  this  session  on  this  important  subject, 
though  it  had  previously  adopted,  by  a  unanimous  vote, 
the  following  declaratory  resolution  : — 

Resolved,  That  neither  the  Federal  Government  nor  the  people,  or  the 
governments  of  the  non-slaveholding  States,  have  the  right  to  legislate 
upon  or  interfere  with  slavery  in  any  of  the  slaveholding  States  in  the 
Union. 

The  action  of  the  Senate  was  somewhat  modified  by 
the  intervening  action  of  a  Peace  Conference,  which 
assembled  at  Washington  on  the  4th  of  February,  in 
pursuance  of  a  recommendation  of  the  State  of  Virginia, 
embodied  in  resolutions  adopted  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  that  State  on  the  19th  of  January.  It  con- 
sisted of  delegates,  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  in 
number,  from  twenty-one  States — none  of  those  which 
had  seceded  being  represented.  John  Tyler,  of  Virginia, 
was  appointed  president,  and  a  committed,  consisting  of 
one  from  each  State,  was  appointed,  with  authority  to 
"report  what  they  may  deem  right,  necessary,  and 
proper,  to  restore  harmony  and  preserve  the  Union." 


124  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

On  the  15th  of  February  the  committee  reported  a  series 
of  resolutions,  in  seven  sections,  which  were  discussed 
and  amended,  one  by  one,  until  the  afternoon  of  the  26th, 
when  the  vote  was  taken  upon  them  as  amended,  in 
succession,  with  the  following  results  : — 

Section  1.  In  all  the  present  territory  of  the  United  States,  north  or 
the  parallel  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  of  north  latitude,  in 
voluntary  servitude,  except  in  punishment  of  crime,  is  prohibited.  In  al 
the  present  territory  south  of  that  line,  the  status  of  persons  held  to  invol- 
untary service  or  labor,  as  it  now  exists,  shall  not  be  changed ;  nor  shall 
any  law  be  passed  by  Congress  or  the  territorial  legislature  to  hinder  or 
prevent  the  taking  of  such  persons  from  any  of  the  States  of  this  Union  to 
said  territory,  nor  to  impair  the  rights  arising  from  said  relation ;  but  the 
same  shall  be  subject  to  judicial  cognizance  in  the  Federal  Courts,  accord- 
ing to  the  course  of  the  common  law.  When  any  territory  north  or  south 
of  said  line,  within  such  boundary  as  Congress  may  prescribe,  shall  con- 
tain a  population  equal  to  that  required  for  a  member  of  Congress,  it 
shall,  if  its  form  of  government  be  republican,  be  admitted  into  the  Union 
on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States,  with  or  without  involuntary 
servitude,  as  the  constitution  of  such  State  may  provide. 

The  vote  on  the  adoption  of  tho  section  was  as  follows : — 

Ayes. — Delaware,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  New  Jersey,  Ohio,  Pennsylva 
nia,  Rhode  Island,  Tennessee — 8. 

Noes. — Connecticut,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Missouri,  New 
York,  North  Carolina,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Virginia — 11. 

So  its  adoption  was  not  agreed  to. 

A  reconsideration  of  this  vote  was  called  for  by  the  delegates  from 
Illinois,  and  agreed  to,  14  to  5.  On  the  next  day  the  question  was  again 
taken  on  the  adoption  of  the  section,  vith  the  following  result: — 

Ayes. — Delaware,  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  New  Jersey,  Ohio. 
Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  Tennessee — 9. 

Noes. — Connecticut,  Iowa,  Maine,  Massacb  lsetts,  North  Carolina,  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Virginia — 8. 

Thus  the  section  was  adopted. 

It  was  stated  by  the  members  from  New  York,  when  the  State  was 
called,  that  one  of  their  number,  D.  D.  Field,  was  absent,  and  the  del- 
egation was  divided.  Thus  New  York,  Indiana,  and  Kansas  were 
divided. 

The  adoption  of  the  second  section  was  then  moved ;  it  was  as  fol- 
ows: — 

Section  2.  No  territory  shall  be  acquired  by  the  United  States,  except 
by  discovery,  and  for  naval  and  commercial  -stations,  de"p6ts,  and  transit 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  125 

routes,  without  a  concurrence  of  the  majority  of  all  the  Senators  from 
States  which  allow  involuntary  servitude,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  Sena- 
tors from  States  which  prohibit  that  relation ;  nor  shall  territory  be  ac- 
quired by  treaty,  unless  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  Senators  from  each 
class  of  States  hereinbefore  mentioned  be  cast  as  a  part  of  the  two-thirds 
majority  necessary  to  the  ratification  of  such  treaty. 

The  vote  on  this  section  was  as  follows : — 

Ayes.— Delaware,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  Missouri,  New  Jersey, 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  Tennessee,  Virginia — 11. 

Noes. — Connecticut,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  North  Car- 
olina, New  Hampshire,  Vermont — 8. 

New  York  and  Kansas  were  divided. 

The  adoption  of  section  three  of  the  report,  with  the  amendments,  was 
aext  moved.     The  amended  section  was  as  follows : — 

Section  3.  Neither  the  Constitution  nor  any  amendment  thereof  shall 
be  construed  to  give  Congress  power  to  regulate,  abolish,  or  control, 
within  any  State,  the  relation  established  or  recognized  by  the  laws 
thereof  touching  persons  held  to  labor  or  involuntary  service  therein,  nor 
to  interfere  with  or  abolish  involuntary  service  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia without  the  consent  of  Maryland  and  without  the  consent  of  the 
owners,  or  making  the  owners  who  do  not  consent  just  compensation ; 
nor  the  power  to  interfere  with  or  prohibit  representatives  and  others 
from  bringing  with  them  to  the  District  of  Columbia,  retaining,  and 
taking  away,  persons  so  held  to  labor  or  service ;  nor  the  power  to  in- 
terfere with  or  abolish  involuntary  service  in  places  under  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  within  those  States  and  Territories 
where  the  same  is  established  or  recognized ;  nor  the  power  to  prohibit 
the  removal  or  transportation  of  persons  held  to  labor  or  involuntary 
service  in  any  State  or  Territory  of  the  United  States  to  any  other  State  or 
Territoiy  thereof,  where  it  is  established  or  recognized  by  law  or  usage , 
and  the  right  during  transportation,  by  sea  or  river,  of  touching  at  ports, 
shores,  and  landings,  and  of  landing  in  case  distress  shall  exist;  but 
Dot  the  right  of  transit  in  or  through  any  State  or  Territory,  or  of  sale  oi 
traffic,  against  the  law  thereof.  Nor  shall  Congress  have  power  to 
authorize  any  higher  rate  of  taxation  on  persons  held  to  labor  or  service 
than  on  land. 

The  vote  on  the  adoption  of  the  section  was  as  follows : — 

Ayes. — Delaware,  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  Missouri,  New  Jersey, 
North  Carolina,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Ehode  Island,  Tennessee,  Vir- 
ginia— 12. 

Noes. — Connecticut,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  New  Hamp- 
shire, Vermont — 7. 

So  the  section  was  adopted.     Kansas  and  New  York  were  divided. 


126  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

The  adoption  of  the  fourth  section  of  the  report,  as  amended,  was  the* 
moved ;  it  was  as  follows  : — 

Section  4.  The  third  paragraph  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth 
article  of  the  Constitution  shall  not  be  construed  to  prevent  any  of  the 
States,  by  appropriate  legislation,  and  through  the  action  of  their  judiciiJ 
and  ministerial  officers,  from  enforcing  the  delivery  of  fugitives  from  labor 
to  the  person  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  is  due. 

The  vote  on  the  adoption  of  this  section  was  as  follows : — 

Ayes. — Connecticut,  Delaware,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Maryland, 
Missoari,  New  Jersey,  North  Carolina,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island 
Tennessee,  Vermont,  Virginia — 15. 

Noes. — Iowa,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire — i. 

Thus  the  section  was  adopted.     Kansas  and  New  York  were  divided. 

The  adoption  of  the  fifth  section  of  the  report,  as  amended,  was  then 
moved ;  it  was  as  follows : — 

Section  5.  The  foreign  slave-trade  is  hereby  forever  prohibited,  and  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  Congress  to  pass  laws  to  prevent  the  importation  of 
•laves,  coolies,  or  persons  held  to  service  or  labor,  into  the  United  State? 
fi&  J  the  Territories  from  places  beyond  the  limits  thereof. 

The  vote  on  the  adoption  of  this  section  resulted  as  follows : — 

Ates. — Connecticut,  Delaware,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Maryland, 
Missouri,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  New  Hampshire,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania, 
Rhode  Island,  Tennessee,  Vermont,  Kansas — 16. 

Noes. — Iowa,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  North  Carolina,  Virginia — 5. 

The  seotion  was  thus  adopted. 

A  motion  was  next  made  to  adopt  the  sixth  section,  as  amended ;  it 
was  as  follows : — 

Section  6.  The  first,  third,  and  fifth  sections,  together  with  this  section 
of  these  amendments,  and  the  third  paragraph  of  the  second  section  of  the 
first  article  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  third  paragraph  of  the  secord  seo- 
tion of  the  fourth  article  thereof,  shall  not  be  amended  or  abolished  with- 
out the  consent  of  all  the  States. 

The  vote  on  this  section  was  as  follows : — 

Ayes. — Delaware,  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  Missouri,  New  Jersey, 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  Tennessee,  Kansas — 11. 

Noes. — Connecticut,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  North  Caro- 
lina, New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Virginia — 9. 

New  York  was  divided.    So  this  section  was  adopted. 

The  motion  was  then  made  to  adopt  the  seventh  and  last  section,  as 
amended:  it  was  as  follows : — 

Section  7.  Congress  shall  provide  by  law  that  the  United  States  shall 
pay  to  the  owner  the  full  value  of  his  fugitive  from  labor,  in  all  case* 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  127 

where  the  marshal,  or  other  officer  whose  duty  it  was  to  arrest  such  fugi- 
tive, was  prevented  from  doing  so  by  violence  or  intimidation,  from  mobs 
or  other  riotous  assemblages,  or  when,  after  arrest,  such  fugitive  was  res- 
cued by  like  violence  or  intimidation,  and  the  owner  thereby  deprived  of 
the  same ;  and  the  acceptance  of  such  payment  shall  preclude  the  owner 
from  further  claim  to  such  fugitive.  Congress  shall  provide  by  law  for 
securing  to  the  citizens  of  each  State  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  cit 
teens  in  the  several  States. 

The  vote  on  this  section  was  as  follows : — 

Ayes. — Delaware,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  New  Jersey, 
New  Hampshire,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  Tennessee,  Kan- 
las— 12. 

Noes. — Connecticut,  Iowa,  Maine,  Missouri,  North  Carolina,  Vermont, 
Virginia— 7. 

Thus  the  last  section  was  adopted.    New  York  was  divided. 

The  adoption  of  the  following  resolution  was  then  moved  by  Mr.  Frank- 
lin, of  Pennsylvania : — 

Resolved,  As  the  sense  of  this  Convention,  that  the  highest  political 
duty  of  every  citizen  of  the  United  States  m  his  a^giance  to  the  Federal 
Government  created  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  that 
no  State  of  this  Union  has  any  constitutional  right  to  secede  therefrom, 
or  to  absolve  the  citizens  of  such  State  from  their  allegiance  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States. 

It  was  moved  to  lay  the  resolution  on  the  table.  The  vote  was  as 
follows : — 

Ayes. — Delaware,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  Missouri,  New  Jersey,  North 
Carolina,  Ohio,  Tennessee,  Virginia — 9. 

Noes. — Connecticut,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Maine,  Massachusetts, 
New  York,  New  Hampshire,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  Vermont, 
Kansas — 12. 

Some  amendments  were  then  offered  and  laid  on  the  table,  when  itt 
Sndefinite  postponement  was  moved  and  carried  by  the  following  vote : — 

Ayes. — Delaware,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  Missouri,  New  Jersey,  North 
Carolina,  Ohio,  Rhode  Island,  Tennessee,  Virginia, — 10. 

Noes. — Connecticut,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Maine,  Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania — 7. 

New  York  was  divided. 

The  following  preamble  was  then  offered  by  Mr.  Guthrie,  and  agreed 
to:— 

To  the  Congress  of  the  United  States : 

The  Convention  assembled  upon  the  invitation  of  the  State  of  Virginia, 
to  adjust  the  unhappy  differences  which  now  disturb  the  peace  of  th« 
Union  and  threaten  its  continuance,  make  known  to  the  Congress  of  thg 


128  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

United  States  that  their  body  convened  in  the  City  of  Washington  on  the 
4th  instant,  and  continued  in  session  until  the  27th. 

There  were  in  the  body,  when  action  was  taken  upon  that  which  it 
here  submitted,  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  commissioners,  represent- 
ing the  following  States :  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachu- 
setts, Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Kentucky, 
Missouri,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Kansas. 

They  have  approved  what  is  herewith  submitted,  and  respectftuy  re- 
quest that  your  honorable  body  will  submit  it  to  conventions  in  the 
States  as  an  article  of  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States. 

In  the  Senate,  on  the  2d  day  of  March,  a  communica- 
tion was  received  from  the  President  of  the  Peace  Con- 
gress, communicating  the  resolutions  thus  adopted  in  that 
body.  They  were  at  once  referred  to  a  committee  consist- 
ing of  Messrs.  Crittenden,  Bigler,  Thomson,  Seward,  and 
Trumbull.  The  next  day  they  were  reported  to  the  Sen- 
ate for  its  adoption,  Messrs.  Seward  and  Trumbull,  the 
minority  of  the  Committee,  dissenting  from  the  majority, 
and  proposing  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  calling  on  the 
legislatures  of  the  States  to  express  their  will  in  regard 
to  calling  a  Convention  for  amending  the  Constitution. 

The  question  then  came  up  on  adopting  the  resolutions 
of  the  Peace  Conference.  Mr.  Hunter,  of  Virginia,  moved 
to  substitute  the  first  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  resolutions  for 
the  first  of  those  reported  by  the  committee.  Mr.  Crit- 
tenden opposed  it,  and  urged  the  adoption  of  the  proposi- 
tions of  the  Peace  Conference  in  preference  to  his  own. 
Mr.  Mason,  of  Virginia,  opposed  the  resolutions  of  the 
Peace  Conference,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  not  satisfy 
the  South.  Mr.  Baker,  of  Oregon,  advocated  it.  Mr. 
Green,  of  Missouri,  opposed  it,  as  surrendering  every 
Southern  principle,  in  which  he  was  seconded  by  Mr. 
Lane,  of  Oregon. 

At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings,  Mr.  Douglas  gave  a 
new  turn  to  the  form  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Senate,  by 
moving  to  take  up  the  resolution  adopted  by  the  House 
to  amend  the  Constitution  so  as  to  prohibit  forever  any 
Interference  with  slavery  in  the  States.    This  motion  was 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  129 

carried.  Mr.  Pngh  moved  to  amend  by  substituting  for 
tliis  resolution  the  resolutions  of  Mr.  Crittenden.  This 
was  rejected — ayes  14,  noes  25.  Mr.  Brigham,  of  Michi- 
gan, next  moved  to  substitute  a  resolution  against  any 
amendment  of  the  Constitution,  and  in  favor  of  enforcing 
the  laws.  This  was  rejected — ayes  13,  noes  25.  Mr. 
Grimes,  of  Iowa,  then  moved  to  substitute  the  resolution 
of  Messrs.  Seward  and  Trumbull,  as  the  minority  of  the 
Select  Committee,  calling  on  the  State  Legislatures  to  ex- 
press their  will  in  regard  to  calling  a  Convention  to  amend 
the  Constitution.  This  was  rejected—  ayes  14,  noes  25. 
The  propositions  of  the  Peace  Conference  were  then 
mov^d  by  Mr.  Johnson,  of  Arkansas,  and  rejected — ayes 
8,  noes  34.  Mr.  Crittenden's  resolutions  were  then  taken 
up,  and  lost  by  the  following  vote  : — 

Ayes. — Messrs.  Bayard,  Bright,  Bigler,  Crittenden,  Douglas,  Gwin. 
Hunter,  Jonnson  of  Tennessee,  Kennedy,  Lane,  Latham,  Mason,  Nichol 
son,  Polk,  Pugh,  Rice,  Sebastian,  Thomson,  and  Wigfall — 19. 

$Toes. — Messrs.  Anthony,  Bingham,  Chandler,  Clark,  Dixon,  Doolittley 
Durkee,  Fessenden,  Foote,  Foster,  Grimes,  Harlan,  King,  Morrill,  Sum- 
ner, Ten  Eyck,  Trumbull,  Wade,  Wilkinson,  and  Wilson — 20. 

The  resolutions  were  thus  lost,  in  consequence  of  the 
withdrawal  of  Senators  from  the  disaffected  States.  The 
question  was  then  taken  on  the  House  resolution  to  amend 
the  Constitution  so  as  to  prohibit  forever  any  amendment 
of  the  Constitution  interfering  with  slavery  in  any  State, 
and  the  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  two-thirds  vote — 
ayes  24,  nays  12. 

This  closed  the  action  of  Congress  upon  this  important 
subject.  It  was  strongly  [Republican  in  both  branches, 
yet  it  had  done  every  thing  consistent  with  its  sense  of 
justice  and  fidelity  to  the  Constitution  to  disarm  the  ap- 
prehensions of  the  Southern  States,  and  to  remove  all 
provocation  for  their  resistance  to  the  incoming  Adminis- 
tration. It  had  given  the  strongest  possible  pledge  that 
it  had  no  intention  of  interfering  with  slavery  in  any 
State,  by  amending  the  Constitution  so  as  to  make  such 
interference  forever  impossible.  It  created  governments 
for  three  new  Territories,  Nevada,  Dakotah,  and  Colora- 


i30  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

do,  and  passed  no  law  excluding  slavery  from  any  one  of 
them.  It  had  severely  censured  the  legislation  of  some 
of  the  Northern  Stales  intended  to  hinder  the  recovery  of 
fugitives  from  labor;  and  in  response  to  its  expressed 
wishes,  Rhode  Island  repealed  its  laws  of  that  character, 
and  Vermont,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  and  Wisconsin  had 
the  subject  under  consideration,  and  were  ready  to  take 
similar  action.  Yet  all  this  had  no  effect  whatever  in 
changing  or  checking  ti*e  secession  movement  in  the 
Southern  States. 


Stats  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  131 


CHAPTER  V. 

FROM    SPRINGFIELD  TO   WASHINGTON. 

V^koh  at  Indianapolis. — Arriv  aland  Speech  at  Cincinnati. — Speeob 
at  Columbus. — Speech  at  Pittsburg. — Arrival  and  Speech  at  Cleve- 
land.— Arpival  at  Buffalo. — At  Rochester  and  Syracuse.  —  At 
Albany. — Speech  at  Poughkeepsie. — In  New  York. — Reply  to  th» 
Mayor  of  New  York. — In  New  Jersey. — Arrival  at  Philadelphia. — 
Speech  in  Philadelphia. — At  Harrisburg.—  Arrival  and  Reoeptioh 
at  Washington. 

From  the  date  of  his  election,  Mr.  Lincoln  maintained 
silence  on  the  affairs  of  the  country.  The  Government 
was  to  remain  for  three  months  longer  in  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Buchanan,  and  the  new  President  did  not  deem  it  becom- 
ing or  proper  for  him  to  interfere,  in  any  way,  with  the 
regular  discharge  of  its  duties  and  responsibilities.  On 
the  11th  of  February,  1861,  he  left  his  home  in  Spring- 
field, Illinois,  accompanied  to  the  railroad  depot  by  a 
large  concourse  of  his  friends  and  neighbors,  whom  he 
bade  farewell  in  the  following  words  : — 

My  Friends  : — No  one  not  in  my  position  can  appreciate  the  sadness  I 
feel  at  this  parting.  To  this  people  I  owe  all  that  I  am.  Here  I  have  lived 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ;  here  my  children  were  born,  and  here 
ore  of  them  lies  buried.  I  know  not  how  soon  I  shall  see  you  again.  A  duty 
I  volves  upon  me  which  is,  perhaps,  greater  than  that  which  has  devolved 
'  |)on  any  other  man  since  the  days  of  Washington.  He  never  woiiU 
have  succeeded  except  for  the  aid  of  Divine  Providence,  upon  which  he 
at  all  times  relied.  I  fed  that  I  cannot  succeed  without  the  same  Divine 
aid  which  sustained  him,  a.id  on  the  same  Almighty  Beinf,  I  place  my  re- 
liance for  support ;  and  I  hope  you,  my  friends,  will  all  {.ray  that  I  may 
receive  that  Divine  assistance,  without  which  I  cannot  succeed,  but  with 
which  success  is  certain.     Again  I  bid  you  all  an  affectionate  farewell. 

As  the  train  passed  through  the  country,  the  President 
was  greeted  with  hearty  cheers  and  good  wishes  by  the 
thousands  who  assembled  at  the  railway  stations  along 


132  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

the  route.  Party  spirit  seemed  to  have  been  forgotten, 
and  the  cheers  were  always  given  for  "  Lincoln  and  the 
Constitution."  At  Tolono  he  appeared  upon  the  platform, 
and  in  response  to  the  applause  which  hailed  his  appear- 
ance, he  said : — 

I  am  leaving  you  on  an  errand  of  national  importance,  attended,  as  you 
are  aware,  with  considerable  difficulties.  Let  us  believe,  as  some  poet  has 
expressed  it,  "Behind  the  cloud  the  sun  is  still  shining."  I  bid  you  an 
affectionate  farewell. 

At  Indianapolis  the  party  was  welcomed  "by  a  salute  * 
thirty-four  guns,  and  the  President-elect  was  received  by 
the  Governor  of  the  State  in  person,  and  escorted  to  a 
carriage  in  waiting,  which  proceeded — followed  by  a  pro- 
cession of  the  members  of  both  houses  of  the  legislature, 
the  municipal  authorities,  the  military,  and  firemen — to 
the  Bates  House.  Appearing  on  the  balcony  of  this  hotel, 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  greeted  by  the  hearty  applause  of  the 
large  crowd  which  had  assembled  in  the  street,  to  which 
he  addressed  the  following  remarks : — 

Governor  Morton  and  Fellow-Citizens  of  the  State  of  Indiana  : — 

Most  heartily  do  1  thank  you  for  this  magnificent  reception,  and  while 
I  cannot  take  to  myself  any  share  of  the  compliment  thus  paid,  more 
than  that  which  pertains  to  a  mere  instrument,  an  accidental  instrument, 
perhaps  I  should  say,  of  a  great  cause,  I  yet  must  look  upon  it  as  a  most 
magnificent  reception,  and  as  such  most  heartily  do  thank  you  for  it. 
You  have  been  pleased  to  address  yourself  to  me  chiefly  in  behalf  of  this 
glorious  Union  in  which  we  live,  in  all  of  which  you  have  my  hearty 
sympathy,  and,  as  far  as  may  be  within  my  power,  will  have,  one  and 
inseparably,  my  hearty  consideration.  While  I  do  not  expect,  upon  this 
occasion,  or  until  I  get  to  Washington,  to  attempt  any  lengthy  speech. 
will  only  say  to  the  salvation  of  the  Union  there  needs  but  one  sin 
tiling — the  hearts  of  a  people  like  yours.     [Applause.] 

The  people,  when  they  rise  in  mass  in  behalf  of  the  Union  and  the 
liberties  of  their  country,  truly  may  it  be  said,  "The  gates  of  hell  cannot 
prevail  against  them."  [Renewed  applause.]  In  all  trying  positions  in 
which  I  shall  be  placed — and,  doubtless,  I  shall  be  placed  in  many  such  — 
my  reliance  will  bo  placed  upon  you  and  the  people  of  the  United  States; 
and  I  wish  you  to  remember,  now  and  forever,  that  it  is  your  business, 
and  not  mine;  that  if  the  union  of  these  States,  and  the  liberties  of  this 
people  shall  be  lost,  it  is  but  little  to  any  one  man  of  fifty -two  years  of 
age,  but  a  great  deal  to  the  thirty  millions  of  people  who  inhabit  these 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  133 

United  States,  and  to  their  posterity  in  all  coming  time.  It  is  your  busi- 
ness to  rise  np  and  preserve  the  Union  and  liberty  for  yourselves,  and  not 
for  me. 

I  desire  they  should  be  constitutionally  performed.  I,  as  already  inti- 
mated, am  but  an  accidental  instrument,  temporary,  and  to  serve  but  for 
a  limited  time;  and  T  appeal  to  you  again  to  constantly  bear  in  mind  that 
with  you,  and  not  with  politicians,  not  with  Presidents,  not  with  office- 
seekers,  but  with  you  is  the  question,  Shall  the  Union  and  shall  the  liber- 
ties of  this  country  be  preserved  to  the  latest  generations?     [Cheers.] 

In  the  evening  the  members  of  the  legislature  waited 
upon  him  in  a  body  at  his  hotel,  where  one  of  their  num- 
ber, on  behalf  of  the  whole,  and  in  presence  of  a  very 
large  assemblage  of  the  citizens  of  the  place,  made  a  brief 
address  of  welcome  and  congratulation,  which  Mr.  Lincoln 
acknowledged  in  the  following  terms  : — 

Fellow-Citizens  of  tots  State  of  Indiana  : — I  am  here  to  thank  you 
much  for  this  magnificent  welcome,  and  still  more  for  the  generous  sup 
port  given  by  your  State  to  that  political  cause  which  I  think  is  the  true 
and  just  cause  of  the  whole  country  and  the  whole  world. 

Solomon  says  there  is  "  a  time  to  keep  silence,"  and  when  men  wrangle 
by  the  mouth  with  no  certainty  that  they  mean  the  same  thing,  whila 
using  the  same  word,  it  perhaps  were  as  well  if  they  would  keep  silence. 

The  words  "coercion"  and  "iavasion"  are  much  used  in  these  days, 
and  often  with  some  temper  and  hot  blood.  Let  us  make  sure,  if  we  can, 
that  we  do  not  misunderstand  the  meaning  of  those  who  use  them.  Let 
ns  get  exact  definitions  of  these  words,  not  from  dictionaries,  but  from 
the  men  themselves,  who  certainly  depreciate  the  things  they  would 
represent  by  the  use  of  words.  What,  then,  is  "Coercion?"  What  is 
"  Invasion  ?"  Would  the  marching  of  an  army  into  South  Carolina,  with- 
out the  consent  of  her  people,  and  with  hostile  intent  towards  them,  be 
"invasion?"  I  certainly  think  it  would;  and  it  would  be  "coercion" 
also  if  the  South  Carolinians  were  forced  to  submit.  But  if  the  United 
States  should  merely  hold  and  retake  its  own  forts  and  other  property, 
and  collect  the  duties  on  foreign  importations,  or  even  withhold  the  mails 
from  places  where  they  were  habitually  violated,  would  any  or  all  these 
things  be  "invasion"  or  "coercion?"  Do  our  professed  lovers  of  the 
Union,  but  who  spitefully  resolve  that  they  will  resist  coercion  and  inva- 
sion, understand  that  such  things  as  these  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  would  be  coercion  or  invasion  of  a  State?  If  so,  their  idea  of 
means  to  preserve  the  object  of  their  affection  would  seem  exceedingly 
thin  and  airy.  If  sick,  the  little  pills  of  the  homceopathists  would  be 
much  too  large  for  it  to  swallow.    In  their  view,  the  Union,  as  a  family 


134  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

relation,  would  seem  to  bo  no  regular  marriage,  but  a  sort  of  "  free-love" 
arrangement,  to  be  maintained  only  on  "  passional  attraction." 

By-the-way,  in  what  consists  the  special  sacredness  of  a  State  ?  I  speak 
not  of  the  position  assigned  to  a  Stato  in  the  Union,  by  the  Constitution; 
for  that,  by  the  bond,  we  all  recognize.  That  position,  however,  a  State 
cannot  carry  out  of  the  Union  witli  it.  I  speak  of  that  assumed  primary 
right  of  a  State  to  rule  all  which  is  less  than  itself,  and  ruin  all  which  is 
larger  than  itself.  If  a  State  and  a  county,  in  a  given  case,  should  be 
equal  in  extent  of  territory,  and  equal  in  number  of  inhabitants,  in  what 
as  a  matter  of  principle,  is  the  State  better  than  the  county  ?  Would  a 
exchange  of  names  be  an  exchange  of  rights  upon  principle?  On  what 
rightful  principle  may  a  State,  being  not  more  than  one-fiftieth  part  of 
tho  nation,  in  soil  and  population,  break  up  the  nation  and  then  coerce  a 
proportionally  larger  subdivision  of  itself,  in  the  most  arbitrary  way  ? 
What  mysterious  right  to  play  tyrant  is  conferred  on  a  district  of  country, 
with  its  people,  by  merely  calling  it  a  State? 

Fellow-citizens,  I  am  not  asserting  any  thing ;  I  am  merely  asking  ques- 
tions for  you  to  consider.    And  now  allow  me  to  bid  you  farewell. 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th,  Mr.  Lincoln  took  his  depart- 
ure and  arrived  at  Cincinnati  at  about  noon,  having  been 
greeted  along  the  route  by  the  hearty  applause  of  the 
thousands  assembled  at  the  successive  stations.  His 
reception  at  Cincinnati  was  overwhelming.  The  streets 
were  so  densely  crowded  that  it  was  with  the  utmost  diffi- 
culty the  procession  could  secure  a  passage.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  escorted  to  the  Burnett  House,  which  had  been  hand- 
somely decorated  in  honor  of  his  visit.  He  was  welcomed 
by  tfce  Mayor  of  the  city  in  a  few  remarks,  in  response  to 
which  he  said : — 

Me.  Ma  tor  and  Fellow- Citizens  : — I  have  spoken  but  once  before  this 
in  Cincinnati.  That  was  a  year  previous  to  the  late  Presidential  election. 
On  that  occasion,  in  a  playful  manner,  but  with  sincere  words,  I  addressed 
much  of  what  I  said  to  the  Kentuckians.  I  gave  my  opinion  that  we,  as 
Republicans,  would  ultimately  beat  them,  as  Democrats,  but  that  they 
could  postpone  that  result  longer  by  nominating  Senator  Douglas  for  the 
Presidency  than  they  could  in  any  other  way.  They  did  net,  in  any  true 
sense  of  the  word,  nominate  Mr.  Douglas,  and  the  result  has  come  certainly 
as  soon  as  ever  I  expected.  I  also  told  them  how  I  expected  they  would 
be  treated  after  they  should  have  been  beaten ;  and  I  now  wish  to  call 
their  attention  to  what  I  then  said  upon  that  subject.  I  then  said,  "When 
we  do  as  we  say,  beat  you,  you  perhaps  want  to  know  what  we  will  do 
rith  you.    I  will  tell  you,  as  far  as  I  am  authorized  to  speak  for  the  oppo- 


State  Papers  op  Abraham  Lincoln.  IB 5 

sition,  what  we  mean  to  do  with  yon.  We  mean  to  treat  yon,  as  near  as 
we  possibly  can,  as  Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Madison  treated  you.  We 
mean  to  leave  you  alone,  and  in  no  way  to  interfere  with  your  institu- 
tions ;  to  abide  by  all  and  every  compromise  of  the  Constitution;  and,  in 
a  word,  coming  back  to  the  original  proposition,  to  treat  you  so  far  as 
degenerate  men,  if  we  have  degenerated,  may,  according  to  the  example 
of  thoso  noble  fathers,  Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Madison.  We  mean 
to  remember  that  you  are  as  good  as  we ;  that  there  is  no  difference  be- 
tween us,  other  than  the  difference  of  circumstances.  We  mean  to  recog- 
nize and  bear  in  mind  always  that  you  have  as  good  hearts  in  your  bosom* 
as  other  people,  or  as  we  claim  to  have,  and  treat  you  accordingly. 

Fellow-citizens  of  Kentucky !  friends  1  brethren,  may  I  call  you  in  my 
new  position  ?  I  see  no  occasion,  and  feel  no  inclination  to  retract  a  word 
of  this.  If  it  shall  not  be  made  good,  be  assured  the  fault  shall  not  be 
mine. 

In  the  evening  the  German  Republican  associations  called 
upon  Mr.  Lincoln  and  presented  him  an  address  of  con- 
gratulation, to  which  he  responded,  warmly  indorsing  the 
wisdom  of  the  Homestead  tall,  and  speaking  of  the  advan- 
tages offered  by  the  soil  and  institutions  of  the  United 
States  to  foreigners  who  might  wish  to  make  it  their  home. 
He  left  Cincinnati  on  the  morning  of  the  13th,  accompanied 
by  a  committee  of  the  Ohio  Legislature,  which  had  come 
from  the  capital  to  meet  him.  The  party  reached  Colum- 
bus at  two  o'clock,  and  the  President  was  escorted  to  the 
hall  of  the  Assembly,  where  he  was  formally  welcomed 
by  Lieutenant-Governor  Kirk  on  behalf  of  the  legislature, 
which  had  assembled  in  joint  session,  to  which  he  made 
the  following  reply : — 

Mr.  President  and  Mr.  Speaker,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Genera v 
Assembly: — It  is  true,  as  has  been  said  by  the  President  of  the  Senate, 
that  very  great  responsibility  rests  upon  me  in  the  position  to  which  the 
votes  of  the  American  people  have  called  me.  I  am  deeply  sensible  of 
that  weighty  responsibility.  I  cannot  but  know  what  you  all  know,  that 
without  a  name,  perhaps  without  a  reason  why  I  should  have  a  name, 
there  has  fallen  upon  me  a  task  such  as  did  not  rest  even  upon  the  Father 
of  his  Country ;  and  so  feeling,  i  cannot  but  turn  and  look  for  the  support 
without  which  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  perform  that  great  task.  I 
turn,  then,  and  look  to  the  great  American  people,  and  to  that  God  who 
has  never  forsaken  them. 

Allusion  has  been  made  tv  the  interest  felt  in  relation  to  the  poHcy  of 
the  new  Administration.     In  this  I  have  received  from  some  a  degree  01 


136  The  Liee,  Public  Services,  and 

credit  for  having  kept  silence,  and  from  others  some  depredation.  I  still 
think  that  I  was  right.  In  the  varying  and  repeatedly  shifting  scenes  of 
the  present,  and  without  a  precedent  which  could  enable  me  to  judge  by 
the  past,  it  has  seemed  fitting  that  before  speaking  upon  the  difficulties 
of  the  country,  I  should  have  gained  a  view  of  the  whole  field  so  as  to  be 
sure  after  all — at  liberty  to  modify  and  change  the  course  of  policy  as 
future  events  may  make  a  change  necessary.  I  have  not  maintained 
silence  from  any  want  of  real  anxiety.  It  is  a  good  thing  that  there  is  no 
more  than  anxiety,  for  there  is  nothing  going  wrong.  It  is  a  consoling 
circumstance  that  when  we  look  out,  there  is  nothing  that  really  hurts  any 
body.  We  entertain  different  views  upon  political  questions,  but  nobody 
is  suffering  any  thing.  This  is  a  most  consoling  oircumstance,  and  froi  i 
it  we  may  conclude  that  all  we  want  is  time,  patience,  and  a  reliance  on 
that  God  who  has  never  forsaken  this  people.  Fellow-citizens,  what  I 
have  said  I  have  said  altogether  extemporaneously,  and  will  now  come  to 
a  close. 

Both  houses  then  adjourned.  In  the  evening  Mr.  Lin- 
coln held  a  levee,  which  was  very  largely  attended.  On 
the  morning  of  the  14th,  Mr.  Lincoln  left  Columbus.  At 
Steubenville  he  had  a  formal  though  brief  reception,  being 
addressed  by  Judge  Floyd,  to  whose  remarks  he  made 
the  following  reply  : — 

I  fear  that  the  great  confidence  placed  in  my  ability  is  unfounded.  In- 
deed, I  am  sure  it  is.  Encompassed  by  vast  difficulties  as  I  am,  nothing 
shall  be  wanting  on  my  part,  if  sustained  by  the  American  people  and 
God.  I  believe  the  devotion  to  the  Constitution  is  equally  great  on  both 
sides  of  the  river.  It  is  only  the  different  understanding  of  that  instru- 
ment that  causes  difficulty.  The  only  dispute  on  both  sides  is,  "  What  are 
their  rights  ?"  If  the  majority  should  not  rule,  who  should  be  the  judge  ? 
Where  is  such  a  judge  to  be  found?  We  should  all  be  bound  by  tlie 
majority  of  the  American  people — if  not,  then  the  minority  must  control 
Would  that  be  right  ?  Would  it  be  just  or  generous  ?  Assuredly  not.  ij 
reiterate,  that  the  majority  should  rule.  If  I  adopt  a  wrong  policy,  th.*> 
opportunity  for  condemnation  will  occur  in  four  years'  time.  Then  I  can 
be  turned  out,  and  a  better  man  with  better  views  put  in  my  place. 

The  train  reached  Pittsburg  in  the  evening,  and  Mr 
Lincoln  was  received  with  the  utmost  enthusiasm  at  the 
Monongahela  House  by  a  large  crowd  which  had  assembled 
to  greet  him.    He  acknowledged  their  reception  briefly : — 

He  said  he  would  not  give  them  a  speech,  as  he  thought  it  more  rare, 
if  not  more  wiaa,  /or  a  public  my.u  to  abstain  from  much  speaking.    He 


State  PArEns  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  137 

expressed  his  gratitude  and  surprise  at  seeing  so  great  a  crowt  and  such 
boundless  enthusiasm  manifested  in  the  night-time,  and  under  such  un- 
toward circumstances,  to  greet  so  unworthy  an  individual  as  himself.  This 
was  undoubtedly  attributable  to  the  position  which  more  by  accident 
than  by  worth  he  had  attained.  He  remarked  further,  that  if  all  those 
whole-souled  people  whom  he  saw  this  evening  before  him,  were  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Union,  he  did  not  see  how  it  could  be  in  much  dan- 
ger, lie  had  intended  to  say  a  few  words  to  the  people  of  Pittsburg — 
the  greatest  manufacturing  city  of  the  United  States — upon  such  matters 
rs  they  were  interested  in  ;  but  as  he  had  adopted  the  plan  of  holding  his 
tongue  for  the  most  part  during  the  last  canvass,  and  since  his  election, 
no  thought  he  had  perhaps  better  now  still  continue  to  hold  his  tongue. 
[Cries  of  "  Go  on,"  "  go  on."]  Well,  I  am  reminded  that  there  is  an  Alle- 
ghany City  as  well  as  an  Alleghany  County,  the  former  the  banner  town, 
and  the  latter  the  banner  county,  perhaps,  of  the  world.  I  am  glad  to 
see  both  of  them,  and  the  good  people  of  both.  That  I  may  not  disap- 
point these,  I  will  say  a  few  words  to  you  to-morrow  as  to  the  peculiar 
interests  of  Alleghany  County. 

On  the  morning  of  the  15th,  the  Mayor  and  Common 
Council  of  the  City  of  Pittsburg  waited  in  a  body  upon 
the  President-elect.  The  Mayor  made  him  an  address  of 
formal  welcome  in  presence  of  a  very  large  number  of 
citizens  who  had  assembled  to  witness  the  ceremony. 
After  the  applause  which  greeted  his  appearance  had 
subsided,  Mr.  Lincoln  made  the  following  remarks  : — 

I  most  cordially  thank  His  Honor  Mayor  Wilson,  and  the  citizens  of 
Pittsburg  generally,  for  their  flattering  reception.  I  am  the  more  grate- 
ful because  I  know  that  it  is  not  given  to  me  alone,  but  to  the  cause  I 
present,  which  clearly  proves  to  me  their  good-will,  and  that  sincere 
-ling  is  at  the  bottom  of  it.  And  here  I  may  remark,  that  in  every 
•hort  address  I  have  made  to  the  people,  in  every  crowd  through  which 
I  have  passed  of  late,  some  allusion  has  been  made  to  the  present  dis- 
tracted condition  of  the  country.  It  is  natural  to  expect  that  I  should 
say  something  on  this  subject;  but  to  touch  upon  it  at  all  would  involve 
an  elaborate  discussion  of  a  great  many  questions  and  circumstances, 
requiring  more  time  than  I  can  at  present  command,  and  would,  perhaps, 
unnecessarily  commit  me  upon  matters  which  have  not  yet  fully  devel- 
oped themselves.  The  condition  of  the  country  is  an  extraordinary  one, 
and  fills  the  mind  of  every  patriot  with  anxiety.  It  is  my  intention  to 
give  this  subject  all  the  consideration  I  possibly  can  before  specially 
deciding  in  regard  to  it.  so  that  when  I  do  speak  it  may  be  as  nearly 
right  as  possible.  Wher  \  do  speak,  I  hope  I  may  say  nothing  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  contrary  to  the  integrity  of  the 


138  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

Union,  or  which  will  prove  inimical  to  the  liberties  of  the  people,  or  to 
the  peace  of  the  whole  country.  And,  furthermore,  when  the  time 
arrives  for  me  to  speak  on  this  great  subject,  I  hope  I  may  say  nothing 
to  disappoint  the  people  generally  throughout  the  country,  especially  if 
the  expectation  has  been  based  upon  any  thing  which  I  may  have  hereto 
fore  said.  Notwithstanding  the  troubles  across  the  river — (the  speaker 
pointing  southwardly  across  the  Monongahela,  and  smiling) — there  is  n** 
crisis  but  an  artificial  one.  What  is  there  now  to  warrant  the  conditio 
of  affairs  presented  by  our  friends  over  the  river  ?  Take  even  their  ow 
view  of  the  questions  involved,  and  there  is  nothing  to  justify  the  course 
they  are  pursuing.  I  repeat,  then,  there  is  no  crisis,  excepting  such  a 
one  as  may  be  gotten  up  at  any  time  by  turbulent  men,  aided  by  design- 
ing politicians.  My  advice  to  them,  under  such  circumstances,  is  to  keep 
cool.  If  the  great  American  people  only  keep  their  temper  on  both  sides 
of  the  line,  the  troubles  will  come  to  an  end,  and  the  question  which 
now  distracts  the  country  will  be  settled,  just  as  surely  as  all  other  diffi- 
culties of  a  like  character  which  have  originated  in  this  Government 
have  been  adjusted.  Let  the  people  on  both  sides  keep  their  self-posses- 
sion, and  just  as  other  clouds  have  cleared  away  in  due  time,  so  will  this 
great  nation  continue  to  prosper  as  heretofore.  But,  fellow -citizens,  I 
have  spoken  longer  on  this  subject  than  I  intended  at  the  outset. 

It  is  often  said  that  the  Tariff  is  the  specialty  of  Pennsylvania. 
Assuming  that  direct  taxation  is  not  to  be  adopted,  the  Tariff  question 
must  be  as  durable  as  the  Government  itself.  It  is  a  question  of  national 
housekeeping.  It  is  to  the  Government  what  replenishing  the  meal-tub 
is  to  the  family.  Every  varying  circumstance  will  require  frequent 
modifications  as  to  the  amount  needed,  and  the  sources  of  supply.  So 
far  there  is  little  difference  of  opinion  among  the  people.  It  is  only 
whether,  and  how  far,  the  duties  on  imports  shall  be  adjusted  to  favor 
home  productions.  In  th*  home  market  that  controversy  begins.  One 
party  insists  that  too  much  protection  oppresses  one  class  for  the  advan 
tage  of  another,  while  the  other  party  argues  that  with  all  its  incidents, 
in  the  long  run,  all  classes  are  benefited.  In  the  Chicago  Platform  there 
is  a  plank  upon  this  subject,  which  should  be  a  general  law  to  the  incom- 
ing Administration.  We  should  do  neither  more  nor  less  than  we  gave 
the  people  reason  to  believe  we  would  when  they  gave  us  their  votes. 
That  plank  is  as  I  now  read. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  private  secretary  then  read  section  twelfth  of  the  Chicago 
Platform,  as  follows: — 

That  while  providing  revenue  for  the  support  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment, by  duties  upon  imports,  sound  policy  requires  such  an  adjustment 
of  these  imports  as  will  encourage  the  development  of  the  industrial 
interest  of  the  whole  country ;  and  we  commend  that  policy  of  national 
exchanges  which  secures  to  working-men  liberal  wages,  to  agriculture 
remunerative  prices,  to  mechanics  and  manufacturers  adequ»r.e  reward 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  139 

for  the'r  skill,  labor,  and  enterprise,  and  to  the  nation  commercial  pros- 
perity and  independence. 

Mr.  Lincoln  resumed :  As  with  all  general  propositions,  doubtless  there 
will  be  shades  of  difference  in  construing  this.  I  have  by  no  means  a 
thoroughly  matured  judgment  upon  this  subject,  especially  as  to  details; 
some  general  ideas  are  about  all.  I  have  long  thought  to  produce  any 
necessary  article  at  home  which  can  be  made  of  as  good  quality  and  v-  itli 
as  little  labor  at  home  as  abroad,  would  be  better  policy,  at  least  by  the 
difference  of  the  carrying  from  abroad.  In  such  a  case,  the  carrying  is 
demonstrably  a  dead  loss  of  labor.  For  instance,  labor  being  the  true 
standard  of  value,  is  it  not  plain  that  if  equal  labor  gets  a  bar  of  railroad 
iron  out  of  a  mine  in  England,  and  another  out  of  a  mine  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, each  can  be  laid  down  in  a  track  at  home  cheaper  than  they  could 
exchange  countries,  at  least  by  the  cost  of  carriage  ?  If  there  bo  a  pres- 
ent cause  why  one  can  be  both  made  and  carried  cheaper  in  money 
price  than  the  other  can  be  made  without  carrying,  that  cause  is  an 
unnatural  and  injurious  one,  and  ought  naturally,  if  not  rapidly,  to  be 
removed.  The  condition  of  the  treasury  at  this  time  would  seem  to 
render  an  early  revision  of  the  Tariff  indispensable.  The  Morrill  Tariff 
Bill,  now  pending  before  Congress,  may  or  may  not  become  a  law.  I 
am  not  posted  as  to  its  particular  provisions,  but  if  they  are  generally 
satisfactory,  and  the  bill  shall  now  pass,  there  will  be  an  end  of  the  mat- 
ter for  the  present.  If,  however,  it  shall  not  pass,  I  suppose  the  whole 
subject  will  be  one  of  the  most  pressing  and  important  for  the  next  Con- 
gress. By  the  Constitution,  the  Executive  may  recommend  measures 
which  he  may  think  proper,  and  he  may  veto  those  he  thinks  improper, 
and  it  is  supposed  that  he  may  add  to  these  certain  indirect  influences 
to  affect  the  action  of  Congress.  My  political  ed creation  strongly  inclines 
me  against  a  very  free  use  of  any  of  these  means  by  the  Executive  to 
control  the  legislation  of  the  country.  As  a  rule,  I  think  it  better  that 
Congress  should  originate  as  well  as  perfect  its  measures  without  external 
bias.  I,  therefore,  would  rather  recommend  to  every  gentleman  who 
kno^?B  i>6  is  to  be  a  member  of  the  next  Congress  to  take  an  enlarged 
*isTr,  and  inform  himself  thoroughly,  so  as  to  contribute  his  part  to  such 
an  adjustment  of  the  tariff  as  shall  produce  a  sufficient  revenue,  and  in  its 
other  bearings,  so  far  as  possible,  be  just  and  equal  to  all  sections  of  the 
country,  and  all  classes  of  the  people. 

Mr.  Lincoln  left  Pittsburg  immediately  after  the  delivery 
of  this  speech,  being  accompanied  to  the  depot  by  a  long 
procession  of  the  people  of  the  city.  The  train  reached 
Cleveland  at  half-past  four  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  Pres- 
ident-elect was  received  by  a  long  procession,  which 
inarched,  amidst  the  roar  of  artillery,  through  the  princi- 


140  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

pal  streets  to  the  Weddell  House,  where  Mr.  Lincoln,  in 
reply  to  an  address  of  welcome  from  the  Mayor,  made  the 
following  remarks : — 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Fellow-Citizens  of  Cleveland  : — We  have  been 
marching  about  two  miles  through  snow,  rain,  and  deep  mud.     The  large 

umbers  that  have  turned  out  under  these  circumstances  testify  that  yon 
ire  in  earnest  about  something  or  other.  But  do  I  think  so  meanly  of 
you  as  to  suppose  that  that  earnestness  is  about  me  personally?  I  would 
be  doing  you  injustice  to  suppose  it  was.  You  have  assembled  to  testify 
your  respect  to  the  Union,  and  the  Constitution  and  the  laws.  And  here 
let  me  state  that  it  is  with  you,  the  people,  to  advance  the  great  cause  of 
the  Union  and  the  Constitution,  and  not  with  any  one  man.  It  rests  with 
you  alone.  This  fact  is  strongly  impressed  on  my  mind  at  present.  In  a 
eomim.nity  like  this,  whose  appearance  testifies  to  their  intelligence,  I 
am  convinced  that  the  cause  of  liberty  and  the  Union  can  never  be  in 
danger.  Frequent  allusion  is  made  to  the  excitement  at  present  existing 
in  our  national  politics,  and  it  is  as  well  that  I  should  also  allude  to  it 
here.  I  think  that  there  is  no  occasion  for  any  excitement.  The  crisis, 
as  it  is  called,  is  altogether  an  artificial  crisis.  In  all  parts  of  the  nation 
there  are  differences  of  opinion  on  politics.  There  are  differences  of 
opinion  even  here.  You  did  not  all  vote  for  the  person  who  now  ad- 
dresses you.  What  is  happening  now  will  not  hurt  those  who  are 
further  away  from  here.  Have  they  not  all  their  rights  now  as  they 
ever  have  had  ?  Do  not  they  have  their  fugitive  slaves  returned  now  aa 
ever  ?  Have  they  not  the  same  Constitution  that  they  have  lived  under 
for  seventy  odd  years  ?  Have  they  not  a  position  as  citizens  of  this  com- 
mon country,  and  have  we  any  power  to  change  that  position  ?  [Cries 
of  "No."]  What,  then,  is  the  matter  with  them?  Why  all  this  excite- 
ment?    Why  all  these  complaints?     As  I  said  before,  this  crisis  is  all 

tificiall  It  has  no  foundation  in  fact.  It  was  not  "  argued  up,"  as  the 
saying  is,  and  canuot  therefore  be  argued  down.  Let  it  alone,  and  it  will 
go  down  of  itself.  [Laughter.]  Mr.  Lincoln  said  that  they  must 
be  content  with  but  a  few  words  from  him.  He  was  very  much 
fatigued,  and  had  spoken  so. much  that  he  was  already  hoarse.  Ho 
thanked  them  for  the  cordial  and  magnificent  reception  they  had  given 
him.  Not  less  did  he  thank  them,  for  the  votes  they  gave  him  last  fall ; 
and  quite  as  much  he  thanked  them  for  the  efficient  aid  they  had  given 
the  cause  which  he  represented — a  cause  which  he  would  say  was  a  good 
one. 

He  had  one  more  word  to  say.  He  was  given  to  understand  that  thii 
reception  was  tendered  not  only  by  his  own  party  supporters,  but  by 
men  of  all  parties,  This  is  as  it  should  be.  If  Judge  Douglas  had  been 
elected,  and  had  been  here,  on  his  way  to  Washington,  as  I  am  to-night, 
the  Republicans  should  have  joined  his  supporters  in  welcoming  him, 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  141 

just  as  liis  friends  have  joined  with  mine  to-night.  If  all  do  not  joir 
now  to  save  the  good  old  ship  of  the  Union  on  this  voyage,  nobody  will 
have  a  chance  to  pilot  her  on  another  voyage.  He  concluded  by  thauk- 
~Ag  all  present  for  the  devotion  they  had  shown  to  the  cause  of  the 
(Tnion. 

Od  the  morning  of  the  16th  the  Presidential  party  left 
Cleveland  for  Buffalo.  At  Erie,  where  they  dined,  loud 
calls  were  made  upon  Mr.  Lincoln  for  a  speech,  in  response 
to  which  he  made  a  few  remarks,  excusing  himself  for  no< 
expressing  his  opinions  on  the  exciting  questions  of  tli 
lay.  He  trusted  that  when  the  time  for  speaking  should 
some,  he  should  find  it  necessary  to  say  nothing  not  in 
accordance  with  the  Constitution,  as  well  as  with  the 
interests  of  the  people  of  the  whole  country.  At  North- 
east Station  he  took  occasion  to  state  that  during  the  cam- 
paign he  had  received  a  letter  from  a  young  girl  of  the 
place,  in  which  he  was  kindly  admonished  to  do  certain 
things,  and  among  others  to  let  his  whiskers  grow  ;  and, 
as  he  had  acted  upon  that  piece  of  advice,  he  would  now 
"be  glad  to  welcome  his  fair  correspondent,  if  she  was 
among  the  crowd.  In  response  to  the  call  a  lassie  made 
her  way  through  the  crowd,  was  helped  on  the  platform, 
and  was  kissed  by  the  President. 

Arriving  at  Buffalo,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  the  utmost  diffi- 
culty to  make  his  way  through  the  dense  crowd  which 
had  assembled  in  anticipation  of  his  arrival.  On  reaching 
the  American  Hotel,  he  was  welcomed  in  a  brief  speech  by 
Acting-Mayor  Bemis,  to  which  he  responded  as  follows  :— 

Mr.  Mayou  and  Fellow-Citizens  of  Buffalo  and  the  State  of  Nf  » 
Yoke  : — I  am  here  to  thank  you  briefly  for  this  grand  reception  given  i 
me;  nit  personally,  but  as  the  representative  of  our  great  and  beloved 
country.  [Cheers.]  Your  worthy  Mayor  has  been  pleased  to  mention, 
in  his  address  to  me,  the  fortunate  and  agreeable  journey  which  1  have 
had  from  home,  only  it  is  a  rather  circuitous  route  to  the  Federal  Capital. 
I  am  very  happy  that  he  was  enabled  in  truth  to  congratulate  myself  and 
company  on  that  fact.  It  is  true  we  hove  had  nothing  thus  far  to  mar 
the  pleasure  of  the  trip.  We  have  not  been  met  alone  by  those  who 
assisted  in  giving  the  election  to  me;  I  say  not  alone  by  them,  but  by  the 
whole  population  of  the  country  through  which  we  have  passed.  This  m 
as  it  should  be.    Had  the  election  fallen  to  any  other  of  the  distinguished 


142  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

candidates  instead  of  myself,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances,  to  say  the 
least,  it  would  havft  been  proper  for  all  citizens  to  have  greeted  him  as 
you  now  greot  me.  It  is  an  evidence  of  the  devotion  of  the  whole  people 
to  the  Constitution,  the  Union,  and  the  perpetuity  of  the  liberties  of  this 
country.  [Cheers.]  I  am  unwilling  on  any  occasion  that  I  should  be  so 
meanly  thought  of  as  to  have  it  supposed  for  a  moment  that  these  demon- 
strations are  tendered  to  me  personally.  They  are  tendered  to  the  country, 
to  the  institutions  of  the  country,  and  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  liberties  of 
the  country,  for  which  these  institutions  were  made  and  created. 

Your  worthy  Mayor  has  thought  fit  to  express  the  hope  that  I  may  be 
able  to  relieve  the  country  from  the  present,  or,  I  should  say,  the  threat- 
ened difficulties.  I  am  sure  I  bring  a  heart  true  to  the  work.  [Tremen 
dous  applause.]  For  the  ability  to  perform  it,  I  must  trust  in  that  Supreme 
Being  who  has  never  forsaken  this  favored  land,  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  this  great  and  intelligent  people.  Without  that  assistance  I  shall 
surely  fail ;  with  it,  I  cannot  fail.  When  we  speak  of  threatened  difficul- 
ties to  the  country,  it  is  natural  that  it  should  be  expected  that  something 
should  be  said  by  myself  with  regard  to  particular  measures.  Upon  more 
mature  reflection,  however — and  others  will  agree  with  me — that,  when 
it  is  considered  that  these  difficulties  are  without  precedent,  and  never 
have  been  acted  upon  by  any  individual  situated  as  I  am,  it  is  most  proper 
I  should  wait  and  see  the  developments,  and  get  all  the  light  possible,  so 
that  when  I  do  speak  authoritatively,  I  may  be  as  near  right  as  possible. 
[Cheers.]  When  I  shall  speak  authoritatively,  I  hope  to  say  nothing  in- 
consistent with  the  Constitution,  the  Union,  the  rights  of  all  the  States, 
of  each  State,  and  of  each  section  of  the  country,  and  not  to  disappoint 
the  reasonable  expectations  of  those  who  have  confided  to  me  their  votes. 
In  this  connection  allow  me  to  say  that  you,  as  a  portion  of  the  great 
American  people,  need  only  to  maintain  your  composure,  stand  up  to 
your  sober  convictions  of  right,  to  your  obligations  to  the  Constitution, 
and  act  in  accordance  with  those  sober  convictions,  and  the  clouds  which 
now  arise  in  the  horizon  will  be  dispelled,  and  we  shall  have  a  bright  and 
glorhus  future;  and  when  this  generation  has  passed  away,  tens  of  thou- 
sands will  inhabit  this  country  where  only  thousands  inhabit  it  now.  I 
i  not  propose  to  address  you  at  length ;  I  have  no  voice  for  it.  Allow  me 
igain  to  thank  you  for  this  magnificent  reception,  and  bid  you  farewell. 


Mr.  Lincoln  remained  at  Buffalo  over  Sunday,  the  17th, 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  18th  left  for  Albany.  On 
reaching  Rochester,  he  was  introduced  by  the  Mayor  to  a 
crowd  of  several  thousands,  to  whom  he  said  : — 

I  confess  myself,  after  having  seen  many  large  audiences  since  leaving 
home,  overwhelmed  with  this  vast  numb  r  of  faces  at  tin's  hour  of  the 
morning.  I  am  not  vain  enough  to  believe  that  you  are  here  from  any 
wish  to  see  me  as  an  individual;  b'-t  because  I  am  for  the  time  being  the 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  143 

representative  of  the  American  people.  I  could  not,  if  I  would,  add  real 
you  at  any  length.  I  have  not  the  strength,  even  if  T  had  the  rime,  for  a 
speech  at  each  of  these  many  interviews  that  are  afforded  me  on  my  way 
to  Washington.  I  appear  merely  to  see  you,  and  to  let  you  see  me,  and 
to  bid  you  farewell.  I  hope  it  will  be  understood  that  it  is  from  no  dis- 
ititrfmation  to  oblige  anybody  that  I  do  not  address  you  at  greater  length. 

At  Syracuse,  where  preparations  had  been  made  to  give 
him  a  formal  reception,  he  made  the  following  remarks 
in  reply  to  an  address  of  welcome  from  the  Mayor : — 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  see  you  have  erected  a  very  fine  and  hand- 
some platform  here  for  me,  and  I  presume  you  expected  me  to  speak  from 
it.  •  If  I  should  go  upon  it,  you  would  imagine  that  I  was  about  to  deliver 
you  a  much  longer  speech  than  I  am.  I  wish  you  to  understand  that  I 
mean  no  discourtesy  to  you  by  thus  declining.  I  intend  discourtesy  to  no 
one.  But  I  wish  you  to  understand  that,  though  I  am  unwilling  to  go 
upon  this  platform,  you  are  not  at  liberty  to  draw  any  inferences  concern- 
ing any  other  platform  with  which  my  name  has  been  or  is  connected, 
[Laughter  and  applause.]  I  wish  you  long  life  and  prosperity  individu 
ally,  and  pray  that  with  the  perpetuity  of  those  institutions  under  which 
we  have  all  so  long  lived  and  prospered,  our  happiness  may  be  secured, 
our  future  made  brilliant,  and  the  glorious  destiny  of  our  country  estab- 
lished forever.     I  bid  you  a  kind  farewell. 

At  Utica,  where  an  immense  and  most  enthusiastic 
assemblage  of  people  from  the  surrounding  country  had 
gathered  to  see  him,  Mr.  Lincoln  contented  himself  by 
saying  :— 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — I  have  no  speech  to  make  to  yon,  and  no  time 
to  speak  in.    I  appear  before  you  that  I  may  see  you,  and  that  you  m 
see  me ;  and  I  am  willing  to  admit,  that  so  far  as  the  ladies  are  concern* 
I  have  the  best  of  the  bargain,  though  I  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  1 
do  not  make  the  same  acknowledgment  concerning  the  men.     [Laughter 
and  applause.] 

The  train  reached  Albany  at  half-past  two  in  the  after- 
noon, where  Mr.  Lincoln  was  formally  received  by  the 
Mayor  in  a  complimentary  address,  to  which  he  thus 
replied : — 

Mr.  Hayor: — 1  can  hardly  appropriate  to  myself  the  flattering  terms  in 
which  you  communicate  the  tender  of  this  reception,  as  personal  to  my- 
self. I  most  gratefully  accept  the  hospitalities  tendered  to  me,  and  will 
not  detain  you  or  the  audience  with  any  extended  remarks  at  this  time 


144  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

I  presume  that  in  the  two  or  three  courses  through  which  I  shall  have  tc 
go,  I  shall  have  to  repeat  somewhat,  and  I  will  therefore  only  repeat  to 
you  my  thanks  for  this  kind  reception. 

A  procession  was  then  formed,  which  escorted  Mr.  Lin- 
coln to  the  steps  of  the  Capital,  where  he  was  welcomed 
by  the  Governor,  in  presence  of  an  immense  mass  of  the 
oo pie,  whom  he  addressed  as  follows : — 

Mr.  Governor: — I  was  pleased  to  receive  an  invitation  to  visit  the 
eapital  of  the  great  Empire  State  of  the  nation,  on  my  way  to  the  Federal 
Capital,  and  I  now  thank  you,  Mr.  Governor,  and  the  people  of  this  capital, 
and  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  for  this  most  hearty  and  mag- 
nificent welcome.  If  I  am  not  at  fault,  the  great  Empire  State  at  this 
time  contains  a  greater  population  than  did  the  United  States  of  America 
at  the  time  she  achieved  her  national  independence.  I  am  proud  to  be 
invited  to  pass  through  your  capital  and  meet  them,  as  I  now  have  the 
honor  to  do. 

I  am  notified  by  your  Governor  that  this  reception  is  given  without 
distinction  of  party.  I  accept  it  the  more  gladly  because  it  is  so.  Almost 
all  men  in  this  country,  and  in  any  country  where  freedom  of  thought 
is  tolerated,  attach  themselves  to  political  parties.  It  is  but  ordinary 
charity  to  attribute  this  to  the  fact  that  in  so  attaching  himself  to  the 
party  which  his  judgment  prefers,  the  citizen  believes  he  thereby  promote! 
the  best  interests  of  the  whole  country ;  and  when  an  election  is  passed, 
it  is  altogether  befitting  a  free  people  that,  until  the  next  election,  they 
should  be  as  one  people.  The  reception  you  have  extended  to  me  to-day 
is  not  given  to  me  personally.  It  should  not  be  so,  but  as  the  representa- 
tive for  the  time  being  of  the  majority  of  the  nation.  If  the  election  had 
resulted  in  the  selection  of  either  of  the  other  candidates,  the  same  cor- 
diality should  have  been  extended  to  him  as  is  extended  to  me  this  day, 
m  testimony  of  the  devotion  of  the  whole  people  to  the  Constitution  and 
the  whole  Union,  and  of  their  desire  to  perpetuate  our  institutions,  and  to 
hand  them  down  in  their  perfection  to  succeeding  generations. 

I  have  neither  the  voice  nor  the  strength  to  address  you  at  any  greater 
length.  I  beg  you  will  accept  my  most  grateful  thanks  for  this  devotion — 
not,  to  me,  but  to  this  great  and  glorious  free  country. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  then  escorted  to  the  Hall  of  Assembly, 
and  was  formally  received  on  behalf  of  the  members 
of  the  legislature,  to  whom  he  made  the  following  ad- 
dress : — 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  op  the  Legislature  of  toe  State  of 
New  York  : — It  is  with  feelings  of  great  diffidence,  and,  I  may  say,  with 
feelings  of  awe,  perhaos  greater  than  I  bnve  recently  experienced,  that  I 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  145 

meet  yon  here  in  this  place.  The  history  of  this  great  State,  the  renown 
of  those  great  men  who  have  stood  here,  and  spoke  here,  and  been  heard 
here,  all  crowd  aronnd  my  fancy,  and  incline  me  to  shrink  from  any 
attempt  to  address  you.  Yet  I  have  some  confidence  given  me  by  the 
generous  manner  in  which  you  have  invited  me,  and  by  the  still  more 
generous  manner  in  which  you  have  received  me,  to  speak  further.  You 
have  invited  and  received  me  without  distinction  of  party.  I  cannot  for 
a  moment  suppose  that  this  has  been  done  in  any  considerable  degret 
with  reference  to  my  personal  services,  but  that  it  is  done  in  so  far  as  I 
am  regarded  at  this  time  as  the  representative  of  the  majesty  of  this  great 
nation.  1  doubt  not  this  is  the  truth,  and  the  whole  truth,  of  the  cas 
and  this  is  as  it  should  be.  It  is  much  mure  gratifying  to  me  that  thi* 
reception  has  been  given  to  me  as  the  representative  of  a  free  people, 
than  it  could  possibly  be  if  tendered  as  an  evidence  of  devotion  to  me,  cr 
to  any  one  man  personally.  And  now  I  think  it  were  more  fitting  that 
I  should  close  these  hasty  remarks.  It  is  true  that,  while  I  hold  myself, 
without  mock  modesty,  the  humblest  of  all  individuals  that  have  evet 
been  elevated  to  the  Presidency,  I  have  a  more  difficult  task  to  perforin 
than  any  one  of  them.  You  have  generously  tendered  me  the  united 
support  of  the  great  Empire  State.  For  this,  in  behalf  of  the  nation — in 
behalf  of  the  present  and  future  of  the  nation — in  behalf  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  for  all  time  to  come,  most  gratefully  do  I  thank  you.  I 
I  do  not  propose  to  enter  into  an  explanation  of  any  particular  line  of 
policy,  as  to  our  present  difficulties,  to  be  adopted  by  the  incoming  Ad- 
ministration. I  deem  it  just  to  you,  to  myself,  and  to  all,  that  I  should 
see  every  thing,  that  I  should  hear  every  thing,  that  I  should  have  every 
light  that  can  be  brought  within  my  reach,  in  order  that,  when  I  do  so 
speak,  I  shall  have  enjoyed  every  opportunity  to  take  correct  and  true 
grounds ;  and  for  this  reason  I  don't  propose  to  speak,  at  this  time,  of  the 
policy  of  the  Government.  But  when  the  time  comes  I  shall  speak,  aa 
well  as  I  am  able,  for  the  good  of  the  present  and  future  of  this  country — 
for  the  good  both  of  the  North  and  the  South  of  this  country — for  the 
good  of  the  one  and  the  other,  and  of  all  sections  of  the  country.  [Koundf 
of  applause.]  In  the  mean  time,  if  we  have  patience,  if  we  restrain  our- 
selves, if  we  allow  ourselves  not  to  run  off  in  a  passion,  I  still  have  confi  i 
dence  that  the  Almighty,  the  Maker  of  the  Universe,  will,  through  the | 
instrumentality  of  this  great  and  intelligent  people,  bring  us  through  this, 
as  he  has  through  all  the  other  difficulties  of  our  country.  Belying  on 
this,  I  again  thank  you  for  this  generous  reception.  [Applause  and 
cheers.] 

On  the  morning  of  the  19th  Mr.  Lincoln  went  to  Tnty, 
and,  in  reply  to  the  welcome  of  the  Mayor,  said : — 

Mr.  Mayor  and  Citizens  of  Troy: — I  thank  you  very  kindly  for  thin 
great  reception.    Since  I  left  my  home  it  has  not  been  my  fortune  to  meet 
JO 


146  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

an  assemblage  more  numerous  and  moro  orderly  than  this.  I  am  th« 
more  graittied  at  this  mark  of  your  regard,  since  you  assure  me  it  is  ten- 
dered, not  to  the  individual,  but  to  the  high  office  you  have  called  me  to 
fill.  I  have  neither  strength  nor  time  to  make  any  extended  remarks,  an(* 
I  can  only  repeat  to  you  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  kind  reception  you 
have  thought  proper  to  extend  to  me. 

On  the  route  to  New  York,  by  the  Hudson  River  Rail 
road,  very  large  crowds  of  people  had  assembled  at  the 
various  stations  to  welcome  him.     At  Hudson  he  spoke 
as  follows : — 

Fellow-Citizens  : — I  see  that  you  have  provided  a  platform,  but  I  shall 
have  to  decline  standing  on  it.  [Laughter  and  applause.]  The  superin- 
tendent tells  me  I  have  not  time  during  our  brief  stay  to  leave  the  train. 
1  had  to  decline  standing  on  some  very  handsome  platforms  prepared  for 
me  yesterday.  But  I  say  to  you,  as  I  said  to  them,  you  must  not  on  this 
account  draw  the  inference  that  I  have  any  intention  to  desert  any  plat 
form  I  have  a  legitimate  right  to  stand  on.  I  do  not  appear  before  you 
for  the  purpose  of  making  a  speech.  I  come  only  to  see  you,  and  to  give 
you  the  opportunity  to  see  me;  and  I  say  to  you,  as  I  have  before  said  to 
crowds  where  there  are  so  many  handsome  ladies  as  there  are  here,  I 
think  I  have  decidedly  the  best  of  the  bargain.  I  have  only,  therefore, 
to  thank  you  most  cordially  for  this  kind  reception,  and  bid  you  all  fare- 
well. 

At  Poughkeepsie,  where  great  preparations  had  been 
made  for  his  reception,  he  responded  thus  to  an  address 
from  the  Mayor  : — 

Fellow-Citizens: — It  is  altogether  impossible  I  should  make  myself 
heard  by  any  considerable  portion  of  this  vast  assemblage ;  but,  although 
I  appear  before  you  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  you,  and  to  let  you 
see,  rather  than  hear  me,  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying  that  I  am  highly 
atified — as  much  here,  indeed,  under  the  circumstances,  as  I  have  been 
ywhere  on  my  route — to  witness  this  noble  demonstration — made,  not 
in  honor  of  an  individual,  but  of  the  man  who  at  this  time  humbly,  but 
earnestly,  represents  the  majesty  of  the  nation.  This  reception,  like  all 
others  that  have  been  tendered  to  me,  doubtless  emanates  from  all  the 
political  parties,  and  not  from  one  alone.  As  such  I  accept  it  the  more 
gratefully,  since  it  indicates  an  earnest  desire  on  the  part  of  the  whole 
people,  without  regard  to  political  differences,  to  save — not  the  country, 
because  the  country  will  save  itself— but  to  save  the  Institutions  of  the 
country — those  institutions  under  which,  in  the  last  three-quarters  of  a 
century,  we  have  grown  to  be  a  great,  an  intelligent,  and  a  happy  people 
—the  greatest,  the  most  intelligent,  and  the  happiest  people  in  the  world. 


State  Papjsks  of  Abraham  Lincoln  147 

These  noble  manifestations  indicate,  with  unerring  certainty,  that  the 
whole  people  are  willing  to  make  common  cause  tor  this  object;  that  if, 
as  it  ever  must  be,  some  have  been  successful  in  the  recent  election,  and 
some  have  been  beaten — if  some  are  satistied,  and  some  are  dissatisfied, 
the  defeated  party  are  not  in  favor  of  sinking  the  ship,  but  are  desirous 
of  running  it  through  the  tempest  in  safety,  and  willing,  if  they  think  th>i 
people  have  committed  an  error  in  their  verdict  now,  to  wait  in  the  hop« 
of  reversing  it,  and  setting  it  right  next  time.  I  do  not  say  that  in  th« 
recent  election  the  people  did  the  wisest  thing  that  could  have  been  done; 
Indeed,  I  do  not  think  they  did ;  but  I  do  say,  that  in  accepting  the  great 
trust  committed  to  me,  which  I  do  with  a  determination  to  endeavor  to 
f  rove  worthy  of  it,  I  must  rely  upon  you,  upon  the  people  of  the  whole 
country,  for  support;  and  with  their  sustaining  aid,  even  I,  humble  as  I 
am,  caunot  fail  to  carry  the  ship  of  State  safely  through  the  storm. 

I  have  now  only  to  thank  you  warmly  for  your  kind  attendance,  and 
bid  you  all  an  affectionate  farewell. 

At  Peekskill,  in  reply  to  a  brief  address  from  Judge 
Nelson,  he  said  : — 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — I  have  but  a  moment  to  stand  before  you,  to 
listen  to  and  return  your  kind  greeting.  I  thank  you  for  this  reception, 
and  for  the  pleasant  manner  in  which  it  is  tendered  to  me,  by  our  mutua) 
friend.  I  will  say  in  a  single  sentence,  in  regard  to  the  difficulties  thai 
lie  before  me  and  our  beloved  country,  that  if  I  can  only  be  as  generously 
and  unanimously  sustained  as  the  demonstrations  I  have  witnessed  ind.'  • 
cate  I  shall  be,  I  shall  not  fail ;  but  without  your  sustaining  hands  I  an 
sure  that  neither  I,  nor  any  other  man,  can  hope  to  surmount  these  diffi- 
culties. I  trust  that  in  the  course  I  shall  pursue  I  shall  be  sustained,  nod 
only  by  the  party  that  elected  me,  but  by  the  patriotic  people  of  the  wholo 
country. 

The  President-elect  reached  New  York  at  three  o'clock, 
and  was  received  by  an  immense  demonstration  of  popu 
lar  enthusiasm.  Places  of  business  were  generally  clobed, 
and  the  streets  were  rilled  with  people,  eager  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  his  person.  On  reaching  the  Astor  House,  he 
was  compelled  by  the  importunity  of  the  assembled  crowd 
to  appear  on  the  balcony,  from  which  he  said  : — 

Fellow-Citizens: — I  have  stepped  before  you  merely  in  compliance 
with  what  appears  to  be  your  wish,  and  not  with  the  purpose  of  making 
a  speech.  I  do  not  propose  making  a  speech  this  afternoon.  I  could  not 
be  heard  by  any  but  a  small  fraction  of  you,  at  best ;  but,  what  is  stiF 
worse  than  that,  I  have  nothing  just  now  to  nay  that  is  worthy  of  your 
tearing.     [Applause.]     I  beg  you  to  believe  that  i  do  not  now  refuse  Us 

-  ,'  f  Z 


148  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

address  you  from  any  disposition  to  disoblige  you,  but  to  the  contrary. 
Bat,  at  the  same  time,  I  beg  of  you  to  excuse  me  for  the  present. 

In  the  evening,  Mr.  Lincoln  received  a  large  deputation 
from  the  various  Republican  associations  which  had 
taken  an  active  part  in  the  election  canvass,  and  in  reply 
to  a  brief  welcome  from  Mr.  E.  D.  Smith,  on  their  behalf, 
he  thus  addressed  them  : — 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen: — I  am  rather  an  old  riia  to  aval, 
myself  of  such  an  excuse  as  I  am  now  about  to  do.  Yet  the  truth  is  so 
distinct,  and  presses  itself  so  distinctly  upon  me,  that  I  cannot  well  avoid 
it — and  that  is,  that  I  did  not  understand  when  I  was  brought  into  this 
room  that  I  was  brought  here  to  make  a  speech.  It  was  not  intimated  to 
me  that  I  was  brought  into  the  room  where  Daniel  Webster  and  Henry 
Clay  had  made  speeches,  and  where,  in  my  position,  I  might  be  expected 
to  do  something  like  those  men,  or  do  something  worthy  of  myself  or  my 
audience.  I,  therefore,  will  beg  you  to  make  very  great  allowance  for 
the  circumstances  in  which  I  have  been  by  surprise  brought  before 
you.  Now,  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  thinking  and  speaking  sometime* 
upon  political  questions  that  have  for  some  years  past  agitated  the  conn 
try ;  and,  if  I  were  disposed  to  do  so,  and  we  could  take  up  some  one  of 
the  issues,  as  the  lawyers  call  them,  and  I  were  called  upon  to  make  an 
argument  about  it  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  I  could  do  so  without  much 
preparation.     But  that  is  not  what  you  desire  to  be  done  here  to-night. 

I  have  been  occupying  a  position  since  the  Presidential  election  of 
silence,  of  avoiding  public  Freaking,  of  avoiding  public  writing.  I  have 
been  doing  so,  because  I  thr-.ght,  upon  full  consideration,  that  was  the 
proper  course  for  me  to  take.  [Great  applause.]  I  am  brought  before 
you  now,  and  required  to  make  a  speech,  when  you  all  approve  more  than 
any  thing  else  of  the  fact  that  I  have  b^en  keeping  silence.  [Great  laugh' 
ter,  cries  of  "Good,"  and  applause.]  And  now  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
response  you  give  to  that  remark  ought  to  justify  me  in  closiig  just  here., 
[Great  laughter.]  I  have  not  kept  silence  since  the  Presidential  election  J 
from  any  party  wantonness,  or  from  any  indifference  to  the  anxiety  that] 
pervades  the  minds  of  men  about  the  aspect  of  the  political  affairs  of  this 
country.  I  have  kept  silence  for  the  reason  that  I  supposed  it  was  pecu- 
liarly proper  that  I  should  do  so  until  the  time  came  when,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  country,  I  could  speak  officially. 

A  voice — The  custom  of  the  country  ? 

I  heard  some  gentleman  say,  "  According  to  the  custom  of  the  country." 
I  alluded  to  tb^  custom  of  the  President-elect,  at  the  time  of  taking  the 
oath  of  office.  That  is  what  I  meant  by  "  the  custom  of  the  country." 
I  do  suppose  that,  while  the  political  drama  being  enacted  in  this  coun- 
try, ac  this  time,  is  rapidly  shifting  its  scenes — forbidding  an  anticipation* 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  14$ 

with  any  degree  of  certainty,  to-day,  what  we-  shall  see  to-morrow — it 
was  peculiarly  fitting  that  I  should  see  it  all,  up  to  the  last  minute,  before 
I  should  take  ground  that  I  might  be  disposed  (by  the  shifting  of  the 
scenes  afterwards)  also  to  shift.  [Applause.]  I  have  said,  several  times, 
upon  this  journey,  and  I  now  repeat  it  to  you,  that  when  the  time  doe* 
some,  I  shall  then  take  the  ground  that  I  think  is  right — [applause] — the 
ground  that  I  think  is  right — [applause,  and  cries  of  "Good,  good" — right 
'for  the  North,  for  the  South,  for  the  East,  for  the  West,  for  the  whole 
I'Muitry.  [Cries  of  "Good,"  "Hurrah  for  Lincoln,"  and  applause.]  And 
jn  doing  so,  I  hope  to  feel  uo  necessity  pressing  upon  me  to  say  any  thing 
in  conflict  with  the  Constitution;  in  conflict  with  the  continued  union  of 
these  States — [applause] — in  conflict  with  the  perpetuation  of  the  liberties 
of  this  people — [applause] — or  any  thing  in  conflict  with  any  thing  what- 
ever that  I  have  ever  given  you  reason  to  expect  from  me.  [Applause.] 
And  now,  my  friends,  have  I  said  enough?  [Loud  cries  of  "No,  no," 
and  three  cheers  for  Lincoln.]  Now,  my  friends,  there  appears  to  be  a 
difference  of  opinion  between  you  and  me,  and  I  really  feel  called  upon 
to  decide  the  question  myself.  [Applause,  during  which  Mr.  Lincoln 
descended  from  the  table.] 

On  the  morning  of  the  20th  Mr.  Lincoln  proceeded  to 
the  City  Hall,  where  it  had  been  arranged  that  he  should 
have  an  official  reception.  He  was  there  addressed  by 
Mayor  Wood  in  the  following  terms : — 

Mr.  Lincoln: — As  Mayor  of  New  York,  it  becomes  my  duty  to  extend 
to  you  an  official  welcome  in  behalf  of  the  Corporation.  In  doing  so,  per- 
mit me  to  say,  that  this  city  has  never  offered  hospitality  to  a  man  clothed 
with  more  exalted  powers,  or  resting  under  graver  responsibilities,  than 
( those  which  circumstances  have  devolved  upon  you.     Coming  into  office 

itli  a  dismembered  Government  to  reconstruct,  and  a  disconnected  aid 
I  untile  people  to  reconcile,  it  will  require  a  high  patriotism,  and  an  eleva 
ted  comprehension  of  the  whole  country  and  its  varied  interests,  opinions, 
and  prejudices,  to  so  conduct  public  atfairs  as  to  bring  it  back  again  to  its 
former  harmonious,  consolidated,  and  prosperous  condition.  If  I  refer  to 
this  topic,  sir,  it  is  because  New  York  is  deeply  interested.  The  present 
political  divisions  have  sorely  afflicted  her  people.  All  her  material  inter- 
ests are  paralyzed.  Her  commercial  greatness  is  endangered.  She  is  the 
child  of  the  American  Union.  She  has  grown  up  under  its  maternal  care, 
and  been  fostered  by  its  paternal  bounty,  and  we  fear  that  if  the  Union 
dies,  the  preseut  supremacy  of  New  York  may  perish  with  it.  To  yon. 
therefore.  chc«^n  under  the  forms  of  the  Constitution  as  the  head  of  the 
Confederacy,  we  look  for  a  restoration  of  fraternal  relations  between  the 
States-  -only  ~o  bz  accomplished  by  peaceful  and  conciliatory  jubsps,  aided 
V  the  wwdoni  of  Almighty  God. 


150  The  Life,  Public  Services,  am> 

To  tliis  address  Mr.  Lincoln  made  the  following  re* 
ply  :— 

Mn.  Mayor: — It  is  with  feelings  of  deep  gratitude  that  I  make  my 
acknowledgments  for  the  reception  that  has  been  given  me  in  the  great 
commercial  City  of  Now  York.  I  cannot  but  remember  that  it  is  done  by 
'he  people,  who  do  not,  by  a  large  majority,  agree  with  me  in  political 
sentiment.  It  is  the  more  grateful  to  me,  because  in  this  I  see  that  for 
the  great  principles  of  our  Government  the  people  are  pretty  nearly  or 
quite  unanimous.  In  regard  to  the  difficulties  that  confront  us  at  this 
time,  and  of  which  you  have  seen  fit  to  speak  so  becomingly  and  so  jiutJyJ 
I  can  only  say  that  I  agree  with  the  sentiments  expressed.  In  my  devo- 
tion to  the  Union  I  hope  I  am  behind  no  man  in  the  nation.  As  to  my 
uisdom  in  conducting  affairs  so  as  to  tend  to  the  preservation  of  the 
Union,  I  fear  too  great  confidence  may  have  been  placed  in  me.  I  am 
ft  are  I  bring  a  heart  devoted  to  the  work.  There  is  nothing  that  could 
erer  bring  me  to  consent — willingly  to  consent — to  the  destruction  of  this 
Union  (in  which  not  only  the  great  City  of  JSTew  York,  but  the  whole 
country,  has  acquired  its  greatness),  unless  it  would  be  that  thing  for 
which  the  Union  itself  was  made.  I  understand  that  the  ship  is  made  for 
the  carrying  and  preservation  of  the  cargo ;  and  so  long  as  the  ship  ii 
safe  with  the  cargo,  it  shall  not  be  abandoned.  This  Union  shall  never 
be  abandoned,  unless  the  possibility  of  its  existence  shall  cease  to  exist, 
without  the  necessity  of  throwing  passengers  ard  cargo  overboard.  So 
long,  then,  as  it  is  possible  that  the  prosperity  and  liberties  of  this  people 
can  be  preserved  within  this  Union,  it  shall  be  my  purpose  at  all  times  to 
preserve  it.  And  now,  Mr.  Mayor,  renewing  my  thanks  for  this  cordial 
reception,  allow  me  to  come  to  a  close.     [Applause.] 

On  the  morning  of  Thursday,  the  21st,  Mr.  Lincoln  left 
New  York  for  Philadelphia,  and  on  reaching  Jersey  City 
was  met  and  welcomed,  on  behalf  of  the  State,  by  thr» 
Hon.  W.  L.  Dayton,  to  whose  remarks  he  made  this  re 

ply;— 

Me.  Dayton  and  Gentlemen  of  Tins  State  of  New  Jersey  : — I  shall 
only  thank  you  briefly  for  this  very  kind  reception  given  me,  not  person- 
ally, but  as  the  temporary  representative  of  the  majesty  of  the  nation. 
[Applause.]  To  the  kindness  of  your  hearts,  and  of  the  hearts  of  your 
brethren  in  your  State,  I  should  be  very  proud  to  respond,  but  I  shall  not 
have  strength  to  address  you  or  other  assemblages  at  length,  even  if  I  had 
the  time  to  do  so.  I  appear  before  you,  therefore,  for  little  else  than  to 
greet  yoa,  and  to  briefly  say  farewell.  You  have  done  me  the  very  high 
honor  to  present  your  reception  courtesies  to  me  through  your  great  man 
— a  man  with  whom  it  is  an  honor  to  be  associated  anywhere,  ard  in 
owning  whom  no  State  can  be  poor.     [Applause.]     He  has  said  enough, 

m 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  IS  I 

and  by  the  saying  of  it  suggested  enough,  to  require  a  response  of  an  honr 
well  considered,  [Applause.]  I  could  not  in  an  hour  make  a  worth j 
response  to  it.  I  therefore,  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  New  Jersey,  content 
myself  with  saying,  most  heartily  do  I  indorse  all  the  sentiments  he  has 
expressed.  [Applause.]  Allow  me,  most  gratefully,  to  bid  you  farewell. 
[Applause.] 

At  Newark  lie  was  welcomed  "by  trie  Mayor,  to  whom 
lie  said : — 

Mr.  Mayoe  : — I  thank  you  for  this  reception  at  the  city  of  Newark, 
With  regard  to  the  great  work  of  which  you  speak,  I  will  say  that  I  bring 
to  it  a  heart  filled  with  love  for  my  country,  and  an  honest  desire  to  do 
what  is  right.  I  am  sure,  however,  that. I  have  not  the  ability  to  do  any 
thing  unaided  of  God,  and  that  without  his  support,  and  that  of  this  free, 
happy,  prosperous,  and  intelligent  people,  no  man  can  succeed  in  doing 
that  the  importance  of  which  we  all  comprehend.  Again  thanking  you 
for  the  reception  you  have  given  me,  I  will  now  bid  you  farewell,  and 
proceed  upon  my  journey. 

At  Trenton  he  was  received  by  a  committee  of  the 
legislature,  and  escorted  to  both  branches,  which  were 
In  session.  The  President  of  the  Senate  welcomed  him  in 
a  brief  address,  to  which  he  made  the  following  reply  : — 

Mb.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Senate  op  the  State  of 
New  Jersey  : — I  am  very  grateful  to  you  for  the  honorable  reception  of 
which  I  have  been  the  object.  I  cannot  but  remember  the  place  that 
New  Jersey  holds  in  our  early  history.  In  the  early  Eevolutionary  strug- 
gle few  of  the  States  among  the  Old  Thirteen  had  more  of  the  battle-fielda 
of  the  country  within  their  limits  than  old  New  Jersey.  May  I  be  par- 
doned if,  upon  this  occasion,  I  mention  that  away  back  in  my  childhood, 
the  earliest  days  of  my  being  able  to  read,  I  got  hold  of  a  small  book, 
•rnclj  s  one  as  few  of  the  younger  members  have  ever  seen,  "  Weem's  Lift 
of  Washington."  I  remember  all  the  accounts  there  given  of  the  battie- 
iields  and  struggles  for  the  liberties  of  the  country,  and  none  fixed  them- 
selves upon  my  imagination  so  deeply  as  the  struggle  here  at  Trenton, 
New  Jersey.  The  crossing  of  the  river ;  the  contest  with  the  Hessians ; 
the  great  hardships  endured  at  that  time,  all  fixed  themselves  on  my 
memory  more  than  any  single  Revolutionary  event;  and  you  all  know,  for 
you  have  all  been  boys,  how  these  early  impressions  last  longer  than  any 
others.  I  recollect  thinking  then,  boy  even  though  I  was,  that  thero 
must  have  been  something  more  than  common  that  these  men  struggled 
for.  I  am  exceedingly  anxious  that  that  thing  which  they  struggled  for; 
that  something  even  more  than  National  Independence;  that  something 
that  held  out  a  great  promise  to  all  the  people  of  the  world  to  all  time  to 


lo2  The  Life,  Public  Services,  ani> 

Rome — I  am  exceedingly  anxious  that  this  Union,  the  Constitution,  ami 
the  liberties  of  the  people  shall  he  perpetuated  in  accordance  with  the 
original  idea  for  which  that  struggle  was  made,  and  I  shall  be  most  happy 
indeed  if  I  shall  be  an  humble  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  Almighty, 
find  of  this,  his  most  chosen  people,  as  the  chosen  instrument — also  in  the 
hands  of  the  Almighty — for  perpetuating  the  object  of  that  great  struggle. 
Yon  give  me  this  reception,  as  I  understand,  without  distinction  of  party. 
I  learn  that  this  body  is  composed  of  a  majority  of  gentlemen  who,  in  the 
exercise  of  their  best  judgment  in  the  choice  of  a  Chief  Magistrate,  did 
oot  think  I  was  the  man.  I  understand,  nevertheless,  that  they  came 
forward  here  to  greet  me  as  the  constitutional  President  of  the  Unite-'" 
States — as  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  meet  the  man  who,  for  the 
time  being,  is  the  representative  man  of  the  nation — united  by  a  purpose 
to  perpetuate  the  Union  and  liberties  of  the  people.  As  such,  I  accept 
this  reception  more  gratefully  than  I  could  do  did  I  believe  it  was  ten- 
dered to  me  as  an  individual. 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  passed  to  the  Assembly  Chamber, 
where,  in  reply  to  the  Speaker,  he  said  : — 

Mr.  Speaker  and  Gentlemen: — I  have  just  enjoyed  the  honor  of  n 
reception  by  the  other  branch  of  this  legislature,  and  I  return  to  yoa 
and  them  my  thanks  for  the  reception  which  the  people  of  New  Jersey 
have  given  through  their  chosen  representatives  to  me  as  the  representa- 
tive, for  the  time  being,  of  the  majesty  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
I  appropriate  to  myself  very  little  of  the  demonstrations  of  respect  with 
which  I  have  been  greeted.  I  think  little  should  be  given  to  any  man, 
but  that  it  should  be  a  manifestation  of  adherence  to  the  Union  and  the 
Constitution.  I  understand  myself  to  be  received  here  by  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people  of  New  Jersey,  a  majority  of  whom  differ  in  opinion 
from  those  with  whom  I  have  acted.  This  manifestation  is,  therefore,  to 
be  regarded  by  me  as  expressing  their  devotion  to  the  Union,  the  Consti- 
tution, and  the  liberties  of  the  people.  You,  Mr.  Speaker,  have  well  .said 
that  this  is  a  time  when  the  bravest  and  wisest  look  with  doubt  and  awe 
upon  the  aspect  presented  by  our  national  affairs.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, you  will  readily  see  why  I  should  not  speak  in  detail  of  the  course 
I  shall  deem  it  best  to  pursue.  It  is  proper  that  I  should  avail  myself  of 
all  the  information  and  all  the  time  at  my  command,  in  order  that  when 
the  time  arrives  in  which  I  must  speak  officially,  I  shall  be  able  to  take  the 
ground  which  I  deem  the  best  and  safest,  and  from  which  I  may  have  no 
occasior  to  swerve.  I  shall  endeavor  to  take  the  ground  I  deem  most 
just  to  W  Y^rth,  the  East,  the  West,  the  South,  and  the  whole  country, 
J  take  it,  I  hope,  in  good  temper,  certainly  with  no  malice  towards  any 
eection.  I  shall  do  all  that  may  be  in  my  power  to  promote  a  peaceful 
settlement  of  all  our  difficulties.  The  man  does  not  live  who  is  more  de- 
voted to  peace  than  I  am.     [Cheers.]     None  who  would  do  more  to  pre 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  153 

nerve  it,  hut  it  maybe  necessary  to  pnt  the  foot  down  firmly.     [Here  the 
ludience  broke  out  into  cheers  so  loud  and  long,  that  for  some  moments 
t  was  impossible  to  hear  Mr.  Lincoln's  voice.]    And  if  I  do  my  duty  and 
lo  right,  you  will  sustain  me,  will  you  not  ?     [Loud  cheers,  and  cries  of 
4  Yes,  yes,  we  will."]     Keceived,  as  I  am,  by  the  members  of  a  legislature, 
ihe  majority  of  whom  do  not  agree  with  me  in  political  sentiments,  I 
,  trust  that  I  may  have  their  assistance  in   piloting  the   ship  of  State 
'  through  this  voyage,  surrounded  by  perils  as  it  is ;  for  if  it  should  suffer 
'  wreck  now,  there  will  be  no  pilot  ever  needed  for  another  voyage.     Gen- 
tlemen, I  have  already  spoken  longer  than  I  intended,  and  must  beg  leave 
to  stop  here. 

The  procession  then  moved  to  the  Trenton  House, 
where  the  President-elect  made  the  following  speech  to 
the  crowd  outside : — 

I  have  been  invited  by  your  representatives  to  the  Legislature  to  visit 
this,  the  capital  of  your  honored  State,  and  in  acknowledging  their  kind 
invitation,  compelled  to  respond  to  the  welcome  of  the  presiding  officers  of 
each  body,  and  I  suppose  they  intended  I  should  speak  to  you  through 
them,  as  they  are  the  representatives  of  all  of  you ;  and  if  I  was  to  speak 
again  here,  I  should  only  have  to  repeat,  in  a  great  measure,  much  that  I 
have  said,  which  would  be  disgusting  to  my  friends  around  me  who  have 
met  here.  I  have  no  speech  to  make,  but  merely  appear  to  see  you  and 
let  you  look  at  me  ;  and  as  to  the  latter,  I  think  I  have  greatly  the  best  of 
the  bargain.     [Laughter.]    My  friends,  allow  me  to  bid  you  farewell. 

The  party  arrived  at  Philadelphia  at  4  o'clock,  and  the 
President-elect,  proceeding  immediately  to  the  Continen- 
tal Hotel,  was  welcomed  in  a  brief  speech  from  Mayor 
i  Henry,  to  which  he  replied  as  follows : — 

Me.  Mayor  and  Fellow- Citizens  of  Philadelphia  : — I  appear  before 
you  to  make  no  lengthy  speech,  but  to  thank  you  for  this  reception.  The 
reception  you  have  given  me  to-night  is  not  to  me,  the  man,  the  individ- 
ual, but  to  the  man  who  temporarily  represents,  or  should  represent,  the 
majesty  of  the  nation.  [Cheers.]  It  is  true,  as  your  worthy  Mayor  has 
said,  that  there  is  anxiety  amongst  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  at  this 
time.  I  deem  it  a  happy  circumstance  that  this  dissatisfied  position  of  our 
fellow-citizens  does  not  point  us  to  any  thing  in  which  they  are  being 
injured,  or  about  to  ne  injured;  for  which  reason,  I  have  felt  all  the  while 
justified  in  concluding  that  the  crisis,  the  panic,  the  anxiety  of  the  coun- 
try at  thia  time,  is  artificial.  If  there  be  those  who  differ  with  me  upon 
this  subject,  they  have  not  pointed  out  the  substantial  difficulty  that 
exists.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  an  artificial  panic  may  not  do  consid- 
erable harm  ;  that  it  h:ts  done  such  I  do  not  deny.     The  hope  that  ha* 


154  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

been  expressed  by  your  Mayor,  that  I  may  be  able  to  restore  peace,  har- 
mony, and  prosperity  to  the  country,  is  most  worthy  of  him ;  and  happy, 
indeed,  will  I  be  if  I  shall  be  able  to  verify  and  fulfil  that  hope.  [Tre- 
rvendous  cheering.]  I  promise  you,  in  all  sincerity,  that  I  bring  to  the 
work  a  sincere  heart.  Whether  I  will  bring  a  head  equal  to  that  heart 
will  be  for  future  tunes  to  determine.  It  were  useless  for  me  to  speak  of 
details  of  plans  now ;  I  shall  speak  officially  next  Monday  week,  if  ever. 
If  I  should  not  speak  then,  it  were  useless  for  me  to  do  so  now.  If  I  do 
apeak  then,  it  is  useless  for  me  to  do  so  now.  When  I  do  speak,  I  shall 
take  such  ground  as  I  deem  best  calculated  to  restore  peace,  harmony, 
and  prosperity  to  the  country,  and  tend  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  nation 
and  the  liberty  of  these  States  and  these  people.  Your  worthy  Mayor 
Las  expressed  the  wish,  in  which  I  join  with  him,  that  it  were  convenient 
for  me  to  remain  in  your  city  long  enough  to  consult  your  merchants  and 
iranufacturers;  or,  as  it  were,  to  listen  to  those  breathings  rising  within 
the  consecrated  walls  wherein  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and, 
I  will  add,  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  were  originally  framed  and 
adopted.  [Enthusiastic  applause.]  I  assure  you  and  your  Mayor  that  I 
hid  hoped  on  this  occasion,  and  upon  all  occasions  during  my  life,  that  I 
shall  do  nothing  inconsistent  with  the  teachings  of  these  holy  and  most 
sacred  walls.  I  never  asked  any  thing  that  does  not  breathe  from  those 
walls.  All  my  political  warfare  has  been  in  favor  of  the  teachings  that 
cime  forth  from  these  sacred  walls.  May  my  right  hand  forget  its  cun- 
ning, and  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth,  if  ever  I  prove  false 
to  those  teachings.  Fellow-citizens,  I  have  addressed  you  longer  than  I 
expected  to  do,  and  now  allow  me  to  bid  you  good-night. 

On  the  21st,  Mr.  Lincoln  visited  the  old  Independence 
Hall,  from  which  was  originally  issued  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.     He  was  received  in  a  cordial  speech 
by  Mr.  Theodore  Cuyler,  to  which  he  made  the  follow 
uig  response : — 

Mr.  Cuyler: — I  am  filled  with  deep  emotion  at  finding  myself  standing 
here  in  this  place,  where  were  collected  together  the  wisdom,  the  patriot- 
ism, the  devotion  to  principle  from  which  sprang  the  institutions  under 
which  we  live.  You  have  kindly  suggested  to  me  that  in  my  hands 
is  the  task  of  restoring  peace  to  the  present  distracted  condition  of  the 
country.  I  can  say  in  return,  sir,  that  all  the  political  sentiments 
I  entertain  have  been  drawn,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  draw  them, 
from  the  sentiments  which  originated  in  and  wore  given  to  the  world 
from  thife  hall  I  have  never  had  a  feeling,  politically,  that  did  not  spring 
from  the  sentiments  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  I 
have  often  pondered  over  the  dangers  which  were  incurred  by  the  men 
who  assembled  here,  and  framed  and  adopted  that  Declaration  of  Ind* 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  155 

pendence.  I  have  pondered  over  the  toils  that  were  endured  by  the  oflfi- 
oers  and  soldiers  of  the  army  who  achieved  that  independence.  I  have 
often  inquired  of  myself  what  great  principle  or  idea  it  was  that  kept  this 
Confederacy  so  long  together.  It  was  not  the  mere  matter  of  the  sep- 
aration of  the  Colonies  from  the  mother-land,  but  that  sentiment  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  which  gave  liberty,  not  alone  to  the  people 
of  this  country,  but,  I  hope,  to  the  world,  for  all  future  time.  [Great  ap- 
plause.] It  was  that  which  gave  promise  that  in  due  time  the  weight 
would  be  lifted  from  the  shoulders  of  all  men.  This  is  the  sentiment  em 
bodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Now,  my  friends,  can  hit 
country  be  saved  upon  that  basis?  If  it  can,  I  will  consider  myself  >ne 
of  the  happiest  men  in  the  world  if  I  can  help  to  save  it.  If  it  cannot  fre 
saved  upon  that  principle,  it  will  be  truly  awful.  But  if  this  coantry  can- 
not be  saved  without  giving  up  that  principle,  I  was  about  to  say  I  would 
rather  be  assassinated  on  this  spot  than  surrender  it.  [Applause.]  Now, 
m  ray  view  of  the  present  aspect  of  affairs,  there  need  be  no  bloodshed 
or  war.  There  is  no  necessity  for  it.  I  am  not  in  favor  of  such  a  course ; 
and  I  may  say  in  advance  that  there  will  be  no  bloodshed  unless  it  be 
forced  upon  the  Government,  and  then  it  will  be  compelled  to  act  in  self- 
defence.     [Applause.] 

My  friends,  this  is  wholly  an  unexpected  speech,  and  I  did  not  expect 
to  be  called  upon  to  say  a  word  when  I  came  here.  I  supposed  it  was 
merely  to  do  something  towards  raising  the  flag — I  may,  therefore,  have 
said  something  indiscreet.  [Cries  of  u  No,  no'."}  I  have  said  nothing  but 
what  I  am  willing  to  live  by,  and,  if  it  be  the  pleasure  of  Almighty  God, 
die  by. 

One  object  of  trie  visit  to  the  Hall  was,  to  have  Mr. 
Lincoln  assist  in  raising  the  national  flag  over  the  Hall. 
Arrangements  had  been  made  for  the  performance  of  this 
ceremony,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  escorted  to  the  platform 
prepared  for  the  purpose,  and  was  invited,  in  a  brief  ad 
dress,  to  raise  the  flag.  He  responded  in  a  patriotic 
epeeuh,  announcing  his  cheerful  compliance  with  the  re- 
quest He  alluded  to  the  original  flag  of  thirteen  stars, 
saying  that  the  number  had  increased  as  time  rolled  on, 
and  we  became  a  happy,  powerful  people,  each  star  add- 
ing to  its  prosperity.  The  future  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
people.  It  was  on  such  an  occasion  we  could  reason  to- 
gether, reaffirm  our  devotion  to  the  country  and  tire  prin 
ciples  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Let  us  make 
ap  our  minds,  said  he,  that  whenever  we  do  put  a  new  star 
upon  our  banner,  it  shall  be  a  fixed  one.  never  to  be 


156  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

dimmed  by  the  horrors  of  war,  hut  brightened  by  the 
contentment  and  prosperity  of  peace.  Let  us  go  on  to 
extend  the  area  of  our  usefulness,  and  add  star  upon  star, 
until  their  light  shall  shine  over  five  hundred  millions  of 
free  and  happy  people.  He  then  performed  his  part  in 
the  ceremony,  amidst  a  thundering  discharge  of  artillery. 
Id  the  afternoon  he  left  for  the  West.  On  reaching 
Lancaster  he  was  received  with  a  salute,  and  replied  to 
an  address  of  welcome  in  the  following  words : — 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  Old  Lancaster  :— I  appear  not  to  make  a 
speech.  I  have  not  time  to  make  a  speech  at  length,  and  not  strength  to 
make  them  on  every  occasion  ;  and  worse  than  all,  I  have  none  to  make. 
There  is  plenty  of  matter  to  speak  about  in  these  times,  but  it  is  well 
known  that  the  more  a  man  speaks  the  less  he  is  understood — the  more 
he  says  one  thing,  the  more  his  adversaries  contend  he  meant  something 
else.  I  shall  soon  have  occasion  to  speak  officially,  and  then  I  will  en- 
deavor to  put  my  thoughts  just  as  plain  as  I  can  express  myself — true  to 
the  Constitution  and  Union  of  all  the  States,  and  to  the  perpetual  liberty 
of  all  the  people.  Until  I  so  speak,  there  is  no  need  to  enter  upon  details. 
In  conclusion,  I  greet  yon  most  heartily,  and  bid  you  an  affectionate 
farewell. 

On  reaching  Harrisburg,  on  the  22d,  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
escorted  to  the  legislature,  and  was  welcomed  by  the 
presiding  oflicers  of  the  two  houses,  to  whom  he  replied 
as  follows : — 

I  appear  before  yon  only  for  a  very  few,  brief  remarks,  in  response  to 
what  has  been  said  to  me.  I  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  this  reception, 
and  the  generous  words  in  which  support  has  been  promised  me  upoa 
this  occasion.  I  thank  your  great  Commonwealth  for  the  overwhelming 
■upport  it  recently  gave,  not  me  personally,  but  the  cause  which  I  think 
a  just  one,  in  the  late  election.  [Loud  applause.]  Allusion  has  been 
made  to  the  fact — the  interesting  fact,  perhaps,  we  should  say — that  I  for 
the  first  time  appear  at  the  Capital  of  the  great  Commonwealth  of  Penn- 
sylvania upon  the  birthday  of  the  Father  of  his  Country,  in  connection 
with  that  beloved  anniversary  connected  with  the  history  of  this  country. 
I  have  already  gone  through  one  exceedingly  interesting  scene  this  morn- 
ing in  the  ceremonies  at  Philadelphia.  Under  the  high  conduct  of  gentle- 
men there,  I  was  for  the  first  time  allowed  the  privilege  of  standing  in 
old  Independence  Hall  [enthusiastic  cheering],  to  have  a  few  word* 
addressed  to  me  there,  and  opening  up  to  me  an  opportunity  of  express 
ing,  with  much  regiet,  that  I  had  not  more  time  time  to  express  enine 


157 

rhip.g  of  u>y  own  feelings,  excited  by  the  orcrvsion.  somewhat  to  harmonize 
and  give  shape  to  the  feelings  that  had  been  really  the  feelings  of  icy 
whole  life.  Besides  this,  our  friend?  there  had  provided  a  magnificent 
fl;ig  of  the  country.  They  had  arranged  it  so  that  I  was  given  the  honor 
of  arising  it  to  the  head  of  fts  staff.  [Applause.]  And  when  it  went  up,  I 
was  pleased  that  it  went  to  its  place  by  the  strength  of  my  ownfeeble  arm, 
when,  according  to  the  arrangement,  the  cord  was  pulled,  and  it  floated 
gloriously  to  the  wind,  without  an  accident,  in  the  light,  glowing  sunshine 
of  the  morning.  I  could  not  help  hoping  that  there  was,  in  the  entire  suc- 
cess of  that  beautiful  ceremony,  at  least  something  of.an  omen  of  what  is  to 
come.  [Loud  applause.]  How  could  I  help  feeling  then  as  I  often  have  felt f 
In  the  whole  of  that  proceeding  I  was  a  very  humble  instrument.  I  had 
not  provided  the  flag;  I  had  not  made  the  arrangements  for  elevating  it 
to  its  place ;  I  had  applied  but  a  very  small  portion  of  my  feeble  strength 
in  raising  it.  In  the  whole  transaction  I  was  in  the  hands  of  the  people 
who  had  arranged  it,  and  if  I  can  have  the  same  generous  co-operation  of 
the  people  of  the  nation,  I  think  the  flag  of  our  country  may  yet  be  kept 
flaunting  gloriously.  [Loud,  enthusiastic,  and  continued  cheers.]  I  recur 
for  a  moment  but  to  repeat  some  words  uttered  at  the  hotel,  in  regard  to 
what  has  been  said  about  the  military  support  which  the  General  Govern- 
ment may  expect  from  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  a  proper 
emergency.  To  guard  against  any  possible  mistake  do  I  recur  to  this. 
It  is  not  with  any  pleasure  that  I  contemplate  the  possibility  that  a  neces- 
sity may  arise  in  this  country  for  the  use  of  the  military  arm.  [Applause.] 
While  I  am  exceedingly  gratified  to  see  the  manifestation  upon  your 
streets  of  your  military  force  here,  and  exceedingly  gratified  at  your 
promises  here  to  use  that  force  upon  a  proper  emergency — while  I  make 
these  acknowledgments  I  desire  to  repeat,  in  order  to  preclude  any  pos- 
sible misconstruction,  that  I  do  most  sincerely  hope  that  we  shall  have 
no  use  for  them.  [Applause.]  That  it  will  never  become  their  duty  to 
shed  blood,  and  most  especially  never  to  shed  fraternal  blood.  I  promise 
that,  so  far  as  I  may  have  wisdom  to  direct,  if  so  painful  a  result  shall  !n 
anj-wise  be  brought  about,  it  shall  be  through  no  fault  of  mine.  [Cheers.] 
Allusion  has  also  been  made  by  one  of  your  honored  speakers  to  som<* 
remarks  recently  made  by  myself  at  Pittsburg,  in  regard  to  what  in  *• 
posed  to  be  the  especial  interest  of  this  great  Commonwealth  of  IVm. 
vania.  I  now  wish  only  to  say,  in  regard  to  that  matter,  that  the  fti 
remarks  which  I  uttered  on  that  occasion  were  rather  carefully  worded. 
I  took  pains  that  they  should  be  so.  I  have  seen  no  occasion  since  to  add 
to  them,  or  subtract  from  them.  I  leave  them  precisely  as  they  stand 
[applause],  adding  only  now,  that  I  am  pleased  to  have  an  expression  from 
you,  gentleman  of  Pennsylvania,  significant  that  they  are  satisfactory  to 
you.  And  now,  gentlemen  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania,  allow  me  to  return  yon  again  my  most  sincere 
thanks. 


158  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

After  the  delivery  of  this  address,  Mr.  Lincoln  devoted 
some  hours  to  the  reception  of  visitors,  and  at  six  o'  clock 
retired  to  his  room.  The  next  morning  the  whole  coun- 
try was  surprised  to  learn  that  he  had  arrived  in  Wash- 
ington— twelve  hours  sooner  than  he  had  originally  in- 
tended. -His  sudden  departure  proved  to  have  been  a 
measure  of  precaution  for  which  events  subsequently 
disclosed  afforded  a  full  justification.  For  some  time  pre 
vious  to  his  departure  from  home,  the  rumor  had  been 
current  that  he  would  never  reach  the  Capital  alive.  An 
attempt  was  made  on  the  Toledo  and  Western  Railroad, 
on  the  11th  of  February,  to  throw  from  the  track  the  train 
on  which  he  was  journeying,  and  just  as  he  was  leaving 
Cincinnati  a  hand  grenade  was  found  to  have  been  se- 
creted on  board  the  cars.  These  and  other  circumstances 
led  to  an  organized  and  thorough  investigation,  under  the 
direction  of  a  police  detective,  carried  on  with  great  skill 
and  perseverance  at  Baltimore,  and  which  resulted  in  dis- 
closing the  fact  that  a  small  gang  of  assassins,  under  tli-3 
leadership  of  an  Italian  who  assumed  the  name  of  Orsim, 
had  arranged  to  take  his  life  during  his  passage  through 
Baltimore.  General  Scott  and  Mr.  Seward  had  both  been 
apprised  of  the  same  fact  through  another  source,  and 
they  had  sent  Mr.  F.  W.  Seward  as  a  special  messenger 
to  Philadelphia,  to  meet  the  President-elect  there,  pre- 
vious to  his  departure  for  Harrisburg,  and  give  him 
notice  of  these  circumstances.  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not 
deviate  from  the  programme  he  had  marked  out  for  him- 
self, in  consequence  of  these  communications;  except 
that,  under  the  advice  of  friends,  he  deemed  it  prudent 
to  anticipate  by  one  train  the  time  he  was  expected  to 
arrive  in  Washington  He  reached  there  on  the  morning 
of  Saturday,  the  23d. 

On  Wednesday,  the  27th,  the  Mayor  and  Common 
Council  of  the  city  waited  upon  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  ten- 
dered him  a  welcome     He  replied  to  them  as  follows : — 

Mr.  Mayor  : — I  thank  you,  and  through  you  the  municipal  authorities 
of  this  city  who  accompany  you*  for  this  welcome      Aud  as  it  is  tie  first 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  159 

time  in  my  life,  since  the  present  phase  of  politics  has  presented  itself  in 
this  country,  that  I  have  said  any  thing  publicly  within  a  region  of 
country  where  the  institution  of  slavery  exists,  I  will  take  this  occasion 
to  say,  that  I  think  very  much  of  the  ill-feeling  that  lias  existed  and  still 
exists  between  the  people  in  the  sections  from  which  I  came  and  the 
people  here,  is  dependent  upon  a  misunderstanding  of  one  another.  I 
tunrefuve  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  assure  you,  Mr.  Mayor,  and 
all  the  gentlemen  present,  that  I  have  not  now,  and  never  have  had,  mr 
other  than  as  kindly  feelings  towards  you  as  the  people  of  my  owl 
tection.  I  have  not  now,  and  never  have  had,  any  disposition  to  treat 
you  in  any  respect  otherwise  than  as  my  own  neighbors.  I  have  not 
now  any  purpose  to  withhold  from  you  any  of  the  benefits  of  the  Consti- 
tution, under  any  circumstances,  that  I  would  not  feel  myself  constrained 
to  withhold  from  ray  own  neighbors ;  and  I  hope,  in  a  word,  that  when 
we  shall  become  better  acquainted — and  I  say  it  with  great  confidence — 
we  shall  like  each  other  the  more,  I  thank  you  for  the  kindness  of  tbis 
reception. 

On  the  next  evening  a  serenade  was  given  to  Mr. 
Lincoln  "by  the  members  of  the  Republican  Association, 
and  he  then  addressed  the  crowd  which  the  occasion  had 
brought  together  as  follows  : — 

My  Feiends: — I  suppose  that  I  may  take  this  as  a  compliment  paid  ts 
me,  and  as  such  please  accept  my  thanks  for  it.  I  have  reached  this  City 
of  Washington  under  circumstances  considerably  differing  from  those 
under  which  any  other  man  has  ever  reached  it.  I  am  here  for  the  pur- 
pose of  taking  an  official  position  amongst  the  people,  almost  all  of  whom 
were  politically  opposed  to  me,  and  are  yet  opposed  to  me,  as  I  suppose. 

I  propose  no  lengthy  address  to  you.  I  only  propose  to  say,  as  I  did 
on  j  esterday,  when  your  worthy  Mayor  and  Board  of  Aldermen  called 
upon  me,  that  I  thought  much  of  the  ill  feeling  that  has  existed  betweei 
fou  and  the  people  of  your  surroundings  and  that  people  from  among 
arhom  I  c»me,  has  depended,  and  now  depends,  upon  a  misunder- 
standing. 

I  hope  that,  if  things  shall  go  along  as  prosperously  as  I  believe  we  all 
desire  they  may,  I  may  have  it  in  my  power  to  remove  something  of  this 
misunderstanding ;  that  I  may  be  enabled  to  convince  you,  and  the  people 
of  your  section  of  the  country,  that  we  regard  you  as  in  all  things  oui 
equals,  and  in  all  things  entitled  to  the  same  respect  and  the  same  treat 
ment  that  we  claim  for  ourselves ;  that  we  are  in  no  wise  disposed,  if  it 
were  in  our  power,  to  oppress  yc  u,  to  deprive  you  of  any  of  you  right* 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  or  even  narrow,/  ;o  split 
iiairs  with  you  in  regard  to  these  rights,  but  are  determined  to  g^ve  yon, 
sa  far  a*  lies  in  our  hands,  all  your  rights  under  the  Constitution — no* 


160  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

grudgingly,  but  fully  and  fairly.  [Applause.]     I  hope  that,  by  thus  dealing 
with  you,  we  will  become  better  acquainted,  and  be  better  friends. 

And  now,  my  friends,  with  these  few  remarks,  and  again  returning  inj 
shanks  for  this  compliment,  and  expressing  my  desire  to  hear  a  .itd« 
jiore  of  your  good  music,  I  bid  you  good-night. 

This  closed  Mr.  Lincoln's  public  speeches  down  to  &* 
late  of  his  inauguration. 


State  Papers  or  Abraham  Lincoln.  161 


CHAPTER   VI. 

FROM   THE    INAUGURATION    TO    THE    MEETING    OF    CONGRSS^ 
JULY   4,  1861. 

The  Inaugural  Address. — Organization  of  the  Government.- -Tbi 
Bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter. — Passage  of  Troops  through  Bal- 
timore.— Interview  with  the  Mayor  of  Baltimore. — The  Block- 
ade of  Rebel  Ports. — The  President  and  the  Virginia  Commis- 
sioners.— Instruction  to  our  Ministers  abroad. — Recognition  of 
the  Rebels  as  Belligerents. — Rights  of  Neutrals. 

On  the  4tb  of  March,  1861,  Mr.  Lincoln  took  the  oath 
and  assumed  the  duties  of  the  Presidential  office.  He  was 
quite  right  in  saying,  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  from  his 
home  in  Springfield,  that  those  duties  were  greater  than 
had  devolved  upon  any  other  man  since  the  days  of 
Washington.  A  conspiracy  which  had  been  on  foot  for 
thirty  years  had  reached  its  crisis.  Yet  in  spite  of  all 
that  had  been  done  by  the  leading  spirits  in  this  nove- 
ment,  the  people  of  the  slaveholding  States  were  by  no 
means  a  unit  in  its  support.  Seven  of  those  States — South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Texas,  Florida, 
and  Louisiana — had  passed  secession  ordinances,  and 
united  in  the  establishment  of  a  hostile  Confederacy  ;  but 
in  nearly  all  of  them  a  considerable  portion  of  the  people 
were  opposed  to  the  movement,  while  in  all  the  remaining 
slaveholding  States  a  very  active  canvass  was  carried  on 
between  the  friends  and  the  opponents  of  secession.  In* 
Maryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee  especially, 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  was  vindicated  and 
its  authority  sustained  by  men  or  pre-eminent  ability  and 
of  commanding  reputation,  and  there  seemed  abundant 
reason  for  hoping  that,  by  the  adoption  of  prudent  meas 
ures,  the  slaveholding  section  might  be  divided,  and  the 
Border  Sla^e  States  retained  in  the  Union.  The  authori- 
ties of  the  rebel  Confederacy  saw  the  importance  of  push- 
n 


1G2  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

ing  the  issue  to  an  instant  decision.  Under  their  directions 
nearly  all  the  forts,  arsenals,  dock-yards,  custom-houses, 
&c,  belonging  to  the  United  States,  within  the  limits  of 
the  seceded  States,  had  been  seized,  and  were  held  by 
representatives  of  the  rebel  government.  The  only  forts 
in  the  South  which  remained  in  possession  of  the  Union 
were  Forts  Pickens,  Taylor,  and  Jefferson  on  the  Florida 
coast,  and  Fort  Sumter  in  Charleston  Harbor,  and  prepa- 
i  rations  were  far  advanced  for  the  reduction  and  capture 
of  these.  Officers  of  the  army  and  navy  from  the  South 
had  resigned  their  commissions  and  entered  the  rebel 
service.  Civil  officers  representing  the  United  States 
within  the  limits  of  the  Southern  States  could  no 
longer  discharge  their  functions,  and  all  the  powers  of 
that  Government  were  practically  paralyzed. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  and  addressed  him- 
self to  the  task,  first,  of  withholding  the  Border  States 
from  joining  the  Confederacy,  as  an  indispensable  pre- 
liminary to  the  great  work  of  quelling  the  rebellion  and 
restoring  the  authority  of  the  Constitution. 

The  ceremony  of  inauguration  took  place  as  usual  in 
front  of  the  Capitol,  and  in  presence  of  an  immense  mul- 
titude of  spectators.  A  large  military  force  was  in 
attendance,  under  the  immediate  command  of  General 
Scott,  but  nothing  occurred  to  interrupt  the  harmony 
of  the  occasion.  Before  taking  the  oath  of  office,  Mr. 
Lincoln  delivered  the  following 

INAUGUKAL  ADDRESS. 

i 

Fellow- Citizens  of  the  Ufdted  States: — 

In  compliance  with  a  custom  as  old  as  the  Government  itself,  I  appear 
before  you  to  address  you  briefly,  and  to  take  in  your  presence  the  oath 
prescribed  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  be  taken  by  the 
President  "before  he  enters  on  the  execution  of  his  office." 

I  do  not  consider  it  necessary  at  present  for  me  to  discuss  thos* 
»atterrt  of  administration  about  whicn  there  is  no  special  anxiety  or 
•xcitenuent. 

Apprehension  seems  to  exist,  among  the  people  of  the  Soutnern  States, 
that  by  the  accession  of  a  Republican  Administration  their  prope  itj  and 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  163 

their  peace  and  personal  security  are  to  be  endangered.  There  ha*  never 
been  any  reasonable  cause  lor  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the  mu£t 
ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed  and  been  open 
to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  published  speeches  of 
trim  who  now  addresses  you.  1  do  but  quote  from  one  of  those  speeches 
when  I  declare  that  "I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  inter- 
fere with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists.  I  believe 
I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no  inclination  to  do  so."  Those 
who  nominated  and  elected  me  did  so  with  full  knowledge  that  I  had  made 
this  and  many  similar  declarations,  and  had  never  recanted  them.  And 
core  than  this,  they  placed  in  the  platform  for  my  acceptance,  and  as  a  law 
to  themselves  and  to  me,  the  clear  and  emphatic  resolution  which  I  now 
vead : — 

Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of  the  States, 
and  especially  the  right  of  each  State  to  order  and  control  its  own  domes- 
tic institutions  according  to  its  own  judgment  exclusively,  is  essential  to 
the  balance  of  power  on  which  the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  polit- 
ical fabric  depend,  and  we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion  by  armed  force 
of  the  soil  of  any  State  or  Territory,  no  matter  under  what  pretext,  aa 
among  the  gravest  of  crimes. 

I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments ;  and,  in  doing  so,  I  only  press  upon 
the  public  attention  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  which  the  case  is  sus- 
ceptible, that  the  property,  peaoe,  and  security  of  no  section  are  to  be  in 
anywise  endangered  by  the  now  incoming  Administration.  I  add,  too, 
that  all  the  protection  which,  consistently  with  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws,  can  be  given,  will  be  cheerfully  given  to  all  the  States,  when  law- 
fully demanded,  for  whatever  cause — as  cheerfully  to  one  section  as  to 
another. 

There  is  much  controversy  about  the  delivering  up  of  fugitives  from 
service  or  labor.  The  clause  I  now  read  is  as  plainly  written  in  the  Con- 
stitution as  any  other  of  its  provisions : — 

No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State,  under  the  laws  thereof, 
escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regulation 
therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered 
^ap  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due. 

It  is  scarcely  questioned  that  this  provision  was  intended  by  those  who 
made  it  for  the  reclaiming  of  what  we  call  fugitive  slaves ;  and  the  inten- 
tion of  the  lawgiver  is  the  law.  All  members  of  Congress  swear  their 
support  to  the  whole  Constitution — to  this  provision  as  much  as  any  other. 
To  the  proposition,  then,  that  slaves,  whose  cases  come  within  the  terms 
of  this  clause,  "shall  be  delivered  up,"  their  oaths  are  unanimous.  Now, 
if  they  would  make  the  effort  in  good  temper,  could  they  not,  with  nearly 
equal  unanimity,  frame  and  pass  a  law  by  means  of  which  to  keep  good 
that  unanimous  oath  ? 

There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  whether  this  clause  should  be  en- 
forced by  National  or  by  State  authority ;  but  surely  that  difference  if 


164  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

not  a  very  material  one.  Tf  the  slave  is  to  be  surrendered,  it  can  be  ot 
but  little  consequence  to  hiin,  or  to  others,  by  wiiioli  authority  it  is  done. 
And  ^ould  any  one,  in  any  case,  be  content  that  his  oath  shall  go  unkept, 
on  a  mere  unsubstantial  controversy  as  to  how  it  shall  be  kept? 

Again,  in  any  law  upon  this  subject,  ought  not  all  the  safeguards  of  lib- 
erty known  in  civilized  and  humane  jurisprudence  to  be  introduced,  so 
that  a  free  man  be  not,  in  any  case,  surrendered  as  a  slave  ?  And  might 
it  not  be  well,  at  the  same  time,  to  provide  by  law  for  the  enforcement 
of  that  clause  in  the  Constitution  which  guarantees  that  "the  citizens  of 
each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in 
the  several  States?" 

1  take  the  official  oath  to-day  with  no  mental  reservation,  and  with  :4c 
purpose  to  construe  the  Constitution  or  laws  by  any  hypercritical  rules. 
And  while  I  do  not  choose  now  to  specify  particular  acts  of  Congress  as 
proper  to  be  enforced,  I  do  suggest  that  it  will  be  much  safer  for  all,  both 
in  official  and  private  stations,  to  conform  to  and  abide  by  all  those  acts 
which  stand  unrepealed,  than  to  violate  any  of  them,  trusting  to  find  im- 
punity in  having  them  held  to  be  unconstitutional. 

It  is  seventy-two  years  since  the  first  inauguration  of  a  President  under 
our  National  Constitution.  During  that  period,  fifteen  different  and  greatly 
distinguished  citizens  have,  in  succession,  administered  the  Executive 
branch  of  the  Government.  They  have  conducted  it  through  many  perils, 
and  generally  with  great  success.  Yet,  with  all  this  scope  for  prece- 
dent, I  now  enter  upon  the  same  task  for  the  brief  constitutional  term  of 
four  years,  under  great  and  peculiar  difficulty.  A  disruption  of  the  Fed- 
eral Union,  heretofore  only  menaced,  is  now  formidably  attempted. 

I  hold  that,  in  contemplation  of  universal  law,  and  of  the  Constitution, 
the  Union  of  these  States  is  perpetual.  Perpetuity  is  implied,  if  not  ex- 
pressed, in  the  fundamental  law  of  all  National  Governments.  It  is  safe 
to  assert  that  no  government  proper  ever  had  a  provision  in  its  organic 
law  for  its  own  termination.  Continue  to  execute  all  the  express  provi- 
sions of  our  National  Government,  and  the  Union  will  endure  forever — it 
being  impossible  to  destroy  it,  except  by  some  action  not  provided  for  in 
the  instrument  itself. 

Again,  if  the  United  States  be  not  a  Government  proper,  but  an  associ- 
ation of  States  in  the  nature  of  contract  merely,  can  it,  as  a  contract,  be 
peaceably  unmade  by  less  than  all  the  parties  who  made  it?  One  party 
to  a  contract  may  violate  it — break  it,  so  to  speak ;  but  does  it  not  require 
all  to  lawfully  rescind  it  ? 

Descending  from  tnese  general  principles,  we  find  the  proposition  that 
in  legal  contemplation,  the  Union  is  perpetual,  confirmed  by  the  history 
of  the  Union  itself.  The  Union  is  much  older  than  the  Constitution.  It 
was  formed,  in  fact,  by  the  Articles  of  Association  in  1774.  It  was  ma- 
tured and  continued  by  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in  1776.  It  wa» 
farther  matured,  and  the  faith  of  all  the  then  Thirteen  States  expressly 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  1G6 

plighted  and  engaged  that  it  should  be  perpetual,  by  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation in  1778.  And,  finally,  in  1787,  one  of  the  declared  objects  for 
ordaining  and  establishing  the  Constitution  was  "  to  form  a  more  perfect 
union." 

But  if  destruction  of  the  Union,  by  one,  or  by  a  part  only,  of  the 
States,  be  lawfully  possible,  the  Union  is  less  perfect  than  before,  the  Con- 
stitution having  lost  the  vital  element  of  perpetuity. 

It  follows,  from  these  views,  that  no  State,  upon  its  own  mere  motion, 
can  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union ;  that  resolves  and  ordinances  to  that 
eftect  are  legally  void;  and  that  acts  of  violence  within  any  State  or 
States,  against  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  are  insurrectionary  or 
revolutionary,  according  to  circumstances. 

I,  therefore,  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution  and  the  laws, 
the  Union  is  unbroken,  and  to  the  extent  of  my  ability  I  shall  take  care,  as 
the  Constitution  itself  expressly  enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws  of  the 
Uniol  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  States.  Doing  this  I  deem  to  be 
onlj  a  simple  duty  on  my  part;  and  I  shall  perform  it,  so  far  as  practica- 
ble, unless  my  rightful  masters,  the  American  people,  shall  withhold  tho 
requisite  means,  or,  in  some  authoritative  manner,  direct  the  contrary.  I 
trust  this  will  not  be  regarded  as  a  menace,  but  only  as  the  declared  pur 
pose  of  the  Union  that  it  will  constitutionally  defend  and  maintain  itself. 

In  doing  this  there  need  be  no  bloodshed  or  violence ;  and  there  shall 
be  none,  unless  it  be  forced  upon  the  National  authority.  The  power  con- 
fided to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the  property  and 
places  belonging  to  the  Government,  and  to  collect  the  duties  and  im- 
posts ;  but  beyond  what  may  be  but  necessary  for  these  objects,  there  will 
be  no  invasion,  no  using  of  force  against  or  among  the  people  anywhero. 
Where  hostility  to  the  United  States,  in  any  interior  locality,  shall  be  so 
great  and  universal  as  to  prevent  competent  resident  citizens  from  hold- 
ing the  Federal  offices,  there  will  be  no  attempt  to  force  obnoxious  stran- 
gers among  the  people  for  that  object.  While  the  strict  legal  right  may 
exist  in  the  Government  to  enforce  the  exercise  of  these  offices,  the 
attempt  to  do  so  would  be  so  irritating,  and  so  nearly  impracticable  withal, 
I  deem  it  better  to  forego,  for  the  time,  the  uses  of  such  offices. 

The  mails,  unless  repelled,  will  continue  to  be  furnished  in  all  parts  of 
the  Union.  So  far  as  possible,  the  people  everywhere  shall  have  that  senso 
of  perfect  security  which  is  most  favorable  to  calm  thought  and  reflection. 
The  course  here  indicated  will  be  followed,  unless  current  events  and  ex- 
perience shall  show  a  modification  or  change  to  be  proper,  and  in  every 
case  and  exigency  my  best  discretion  will  be  exercised,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances actually  existing,  and  with  a  view  and  a  hope  of  a  peaceful 
solution  of  the  National  troubles,  and  the  restoration  of  fraternal  sympa- 
thies and  affections. 

That  there  are  persons  in  one  section  or  another  who  seek  to  destroy 
the  Union  at  all  events,  and  are  glad  of  any  pretext  to  do  it,  I  will  neithm 


166  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

affirm  nor  deny;  but  if  there  be  such,  T  need  address  no  word  to  thera. 
To  those,  however,  who  real! y  love  the  Union,  may  T  not  speak  ? 

Before  entering  upon  so  grave  a  matter  as  the  destruction  of  our 
National  fabric,  with  all  its  benefits,  its  memories,  and  its  hopes,  would  it 
not  be  wise  to  ascertain  precisely  why  we  do  it?  Will  you  hazard  so  des- 
perate a  step  while  there  is  any  possibility  that  any  portion  of  the  ills  you 
fly  from  have  no  real  existence?  Will  you,  while  the  certain  ills  you  fly 
to  are  greater  than  all  the  real  ones  you  fly  from — will  you  risk  the  com 
mission  of  so  fearful  a  mistake? 

All  profess  to  be  content  in  the  Union,  if  all  constitutional  rights  can 
be  maintained.  Is  it  true,  then,  that  any  right,  plainly  written  in  the 
Constitution,  has  been  denied?  I  think  not.  Happily  the  human  mind 
is  so  constituted  that  no  party  can  reach  to  the  audacity  of  doing  this. 
Think,  if  you  can,  of  a  single  instance  in  which  a  plainly  written  provision 
of  the  Constitution  has  ever  been  denied.  If,  by  the  mere  force  of  num- 
bers, a  majority  should  deprive  a  minority  of  any  clearly  written  consti- 
tutional right,  it  might,  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  justify  revolution — 
certainly  would  if  such  right  were  a  vital  one.  But  such  is  not  our  case. 
All  the  vital  rights  of  minorities  and  of  individuals  are  so  plainly  assured 
to  them  by  affirmations  and  negations,  guarantees  and  prohibitions  in  the 
Constitution,  that  controversies  never  arise  concerning  them.  But  no 
organic  law  can  ever  be  framed  with  a  provision  specifically  applicable  to 
every  question  which  may  occur  in  practical  administration.  No  fore- 
sight can  anticipate,  nor  any  document  of  reasonable  length  contain,  ex- 
press provisions  for  all  possible  questions.  Shall  fugitives  from  labor  be 
surrendered  by  National  or  by  State  authority?  The  Constitution  does 
not  expressly  say.  May  Congress  prohibit  slavery  in  the  Territories?  The 
Constitution  does  not  expressly  say.  Must  Congress  protect  slavery  in 
the  Territories?     The  Constitution  does  not  expressly  say. 

From  questions  of  this  class  spring  all  our  constitutional  controversies, 
and  we  divide  upon  them  into  majorities  and  minorities.  If  the  minority 
will  not  acquiesce,  the  majority  must,  or  the  Government  must  cease. 
There  is  no  other  alternative;  for  continuing  the  Government  is  acquies 
■sence  on  one  side  or  the  other.  If  a  minority  in  such  case  will  secede 
rather  than  acquiesce,  they  make  a  precedent  which,  in  turn,  will  divide 
and  ruin  them;  for  a  minority  of  their  own  will  secede  from  them  when 
ever  a  majority  refuses  to  be  controlled  by  such  minority.  For  instance, 
why  may  not  any  portion  of  a  new  Confederacy,  a  year  or  two  hence, 
arbitrarily  secede  again,  precisely  as  portions  of  the  present  Union  now 
claim  to  secede  from  it?  All  who  cherish  disunion  sentiments  are  now 
being  educated  to  the  exact  temper  of  doing  this. 

Is  there  such  perfect  identity  of  interests  among  the  States  to  com- 
pose a  new  Union,  as  to  produce  harmony  only,  and  prevent  renewed 
secession  ? 

Plainly,  the  central  idea  of  secession  is  the  essence  of  anarchy.     A 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  167 

majority  held  in  restraint  by  constitutional  checks  and  limitations,  and 
ilways  changing  easily  with  deliberate  changes  of  popular  opinions  and 
sentiments,  is  the  only  true  sovereign  of  a  free  people.  Whoever  rejecti 
(t,  does,  of  necessity,  fly  to  anarchy  or  to  despotism.  Unanimity  is  im- 
possible; the  rule  of  a  minority,  as  a  permanent  arrangement,  is  wholly 
inadmissible;  so  that,  rejecting  the  majority  principle,  anarchy  or  despot- 
ism, in  some  form,  is  all  that  is  left. 

I  do  not  forget  the  position  assumed  by  some,  that  constitutional  ques- 
tions are  to  be  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court;  nor  do  I  deny  that  such 
decisions  must  be  binding,  in  any  case,  upon  the  parties  to  a  suit,  as  to 
the  object  of  that  suit,  while  they  are  also  entitled  to  very  high  respect 
and  consideration  in  all  parallel  cases,  by  all  other  departments  of  the 
Government.  And  while  it  is  obviously  possible  that  such  decisions  n  ay 
be  erroneous  in  any  given  case,  still,  the  evil  effect  following  it  being 
limited  to  that  particular  case,  with  the  chance  that  it  may  be  overruled, 
and  never  become  a  precedent  for  other  cases,  can  better  be  borne  tl  an 
could  the  evils  of  a  different  practice.  At  the  same  time,  the  can  lid 
citizen  must  confess  that  if  the  policy  of  the  Government  upon  vital 
questions  affecting  the  whole  people,  is  to  be  irrevocably  fixed  by  de- 
cisions of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  instant  they  are  made  in  ordinary 
litigation  between  parties  in  personal  actions,  the  people  will  have  ceased 
to  be  their  own  rulers,  having  to  that  extent  practically  resigned  their 
Government  into  the  hands  of  that  eminent  tribunal. 

Nor  is  there  in  this  view  any  assault  upon  the  Court  or  the  Judges. 
It  is  a  duty  from  which  they  may  not  shrink  to  decide  cases  properly 
brought  before  them,  and  it  is  no  fault  of  theirs  if  others  seek  to  turn 
their  decisions  to  political  purposes.  One  section  of  our  country  believes 
slavery  is  right,  and  ought  to  be  extended,  while  the  other  believes  it  is 
wrong,  and  ought  not  to  be  extended.  This  is  the  only  substantial  dis- 
pute. The  fugitive  slave  clause  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  law  for  the 
suppression  of  the  foreign  slave-trade,  are  each  as  well  enforced,  perhaps, 
as  any  law  can  ever  be  in  a  community  where  the  moral  sense  of  the 
people  imperfectly  supports  the  law  itself.  The  great  body  of  the  people 
abide  by  the  dry  legal  obligation  in  both  cases,  and  a  few  break  over  in 
each.  This,  I  think,  cannot  be  perfectly  cured ;  and  it  would  be  worse., 
in  bott  cases,  after  the  separation  of  the  sections  than  befcre.  The 
foreign  slave-trade,  now  imperfectly  suppressed,  would  be  t  itimately 
revived,  without  restriction,  in  one  section;  while  fugitive  slaves,  now 
only  partially  surrendered,  would  not  be  surrendered  at  all  by  the  other. 

Physically  speaking,  we  cannot  separate.  We  cannot  remove  our  re- 
spective sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  impassable  wall  between 
them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be  divorced,  and  go  out  of  the  presence 
and  beyond  the  reach  of  each  other ;  but  the  different  parts  of  our  coun- 
try cannot  do  this.  They  cannot  but  remain  face  to  face ;  and  inter- 
course, either  amicable  or  hostile,  must  continue  between  them.     Jt  m 


168  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

impossible,  then,  to  make  that  intercourse  more  advantageous  or  more 
satisfactory  after  separation  than  before.  Can  aliens  make  treaties  easier 
*.han  friends  can  make  laws?  Can  treaties  be  more  faithfully  enforced 
between  aliens  than  laws  can  among  friends?  Suppose  you  go  to  war, 
you  cannot  fight  always;  and  when,  after  much  loss  on  both  sides,  and 
nc  gain  on  either,  you  cease  fighting,  the  identical  old  questions,  as  to 
terras  of  intercourse,  are  again  upon  you. 

This  country,  with  its  institutions,  belongs  to  the  people  who  inhabit 
*t.  Whenever  they  shall  grow  weary  of  the  existing  Government,  they 
«an  exercise  their  constitutional  right  of  amending  it,  or  their  revolu- 
tionary right  to  dismember  or  overthrow  it.  I  cannot  be  ignorant  of  the 
fact  that  many  worthy  and  patriotic  citizens  are  desirous  of  having  the 
National  Constitution  amended.  While  I  make  no  recommendation  of 
amendments,  I  fully  recognize  the  rightful  authority  of  the  people  over 
the  whole  subject,  to  be  exercised  in  either  of  the  modes  prescribed  in 
the  instrument  itself;  and  I  should,  under  existing  circumstances,  favor, 
rather  than  oppose,  a  fair  opportunity  being  afforded  the  people  to  act 
upon  it.  I  will  venture  to  add,  that  to  me  the  convention  mode  seems 
preferable,  in  that  it  allows  amendments  to  originate  with  the  people 
themselves,  instead  of  only  permitting  them  to  take  or  reject  proposi- 
tions originated  by  others,  not  especially  chosen  for  the  purpose,  and 
which  might  not  be  precisely  such  as  they  would  wish  to  either  accept  or 
refuse.  I  understand  a  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution — which 
amendment,  however,  I  have  not  seen — has  passed  Congress,  to  the  effect 
that  the  Federal  Government  shall  never  interfere  with  the  domestic  insti- 
tutions of  the  States,  including  that  of  persons  held  to  service.  To  avoid 
misconstruction  of  what  I  have  said,  I  depart  from  my  purpose  not  to 
speak  of  particular  amendments,  so  far  as  to  say  that,  holding  such  a  pro- 
vision now  to  be  implied  constitutional  law,  I  have  no  objections  to  its 
being  made  express  and  irrevocable. 

The  Chief  Magistrate  derives  all  his  authority  from  the  people,  and  they 
have  conferred  none  upon  him  to  fix  terms  for  the  separation  of  the  States. 
The  people  themselves  can  do  this  also  if  they  choose;  but  the  Executive, 
as  such,  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  His  duty  is  to  administer  the  present 
Government  as  it  came  to  his  hands,  and  to  transmit  it,  unimpaired  by 
him,  to  his  successor. 

Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient  confidence  in  the  ultimate  justice  of 
the  people?  Is  there  any  better  or  equal  hope  in  the  world?  In  our 
present  differences,  is  either  party  without  faith  of  being  in  the  right  f 
If  the  Almighty  Ruler  of  Nations,  with  his  eternal  truth  and  justice,  be 
on  your  side  of  the  North,  or  on  yours  of  the  South,  that  truth  and  that 
justice  will  surely  prevail,  by  the  judgment  of  this  great  tribunal  of  the 
American  people. 

By  the  frame  of  the  Government  under  which  we  live,  the  same  peopla 
have  wisely  given  their  nub>ic  servants  but  little  power  for  mischief,  and 


States  Papeks  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  169 

have,  with  equal  wisdom,  provided  for  the  return  of  that  little  to  their 
own  hands  at  very  short  intervals.  While  the  people  retain  their  virtue 
and  vigilance,  no  Administration,  by  any  extreme  of  wickedness  or  folly, 
oan  very  seriously  injure  the  Government  in  the  short  space  of  four 
years. 

My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think  calmly  and  well  upon  this  whole 
subject.  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking  time.  If  there  be  an 
object  to  hurry  any  of  you  in  hot  haste  to  a  step  which  you  would  never 
take  deliberately,  that  object  will  be  frustrated  by  taking  time;  but  nr 
good  object  can  be  frustrated  by  it.  Such  of  yon  as  are  now  dissatis"nV , 
still  have  the  old  Constitution  unimpaired,  and,  on  the  sensitive  poii.t, 
the  laws  of  your  own  framing  under  it ;  while  the  new  Administration 
will  have  no  immediate  power,  if  it  would,  to  change  either.  If  it  were 
admitted  that  you  who  are  dissatisfied  hold  the  right  side  in  the  dispute, 
there  still  is  no  single  good  reason  for  precipitate  action.  Intelligence, 
patriotism,  Christianity,  and  a  firm  reliance  on  Him  who  has  never  yet 
forsaken  this  favored  land,  are  still  competent  to  adjust,  in  the  best  way, 
all  our  present  difficulty. 

In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and  not  in  mine,  is 
the  momentous  issues  of  civil  war.     The  Government  will  not  assail  you. 

You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors. 
You  have  no  oath  registered  in  heaven  to  destroy  the  Government; 
while  I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to  "  preserve,  protect,  and  de- 
fend "  it. 

I  am  loth  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We  must  not  be 
enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it  must  not  break  our  bonds 
of  affection. 

The  mystic  cord  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battle-field  and 
patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all  over  this  broad 
land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as 
surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature. 

The  declarations  of  the  Inaugural,  as  a  general  tiling, 
gave  satisfaction  to  the  loyal  people  of  the  whole  conn- 
try.  It  was  seen,  everywhere,  that  while  President  Lin- 
coln felt  constrained,  by  the  most  solemn  obligations 
of  dnty,  to  maintain  the  authority  of  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  over  all  the  territory  within  its  juris- 
diction, whenever  that  authority  should  be  disputed  by 
flie  actual  exercise  of  armed  force,  he  would  nevertheless 
do  nothing  whatever  to  provoke  such  a  demonstration, 
and  would  take  no  step  which  could  look  like  violence  or 
offensive  warfare  upon  the  seceded  States.  In  the  Border 
States  its  reception  was  in  the  main  satisfactory.     But,  as 


170  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

a  matter  of  course,  in  those  States,  as  elsewhere  through- 
out the  South,  the  secession  leaders  gave  it  the  most 
hostile  construction.  No  effort  was  spared  to  inflame  the 
public  mind,  by  representing  the  Inaugural  as  embodying 
the  purpose  of  the  President  to  make  war  upon  the 
Southern  States  for  their  attempt  to  secure  a  redress  of 
wrongs. 

The  President's  first  act  was  to  construct  his  Cabinet, 
which  was  done  by  the  appointment  of  William  H.  Sew- 
ard, of  New  York,  Secretary  of  State ;  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
of  Ohio,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  Simon  Cameron,  of 
Pennsylvania,  Secretary  of  War ;  Gideon  Welles,  of  Con 
necticut,  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  Caleb  B.  Smith,  of  In- 
diana, Secretary  of  the  Interior ;  Montgomery  Blair,  of 
Maryland,  Postmaster- General ;  and  Edward  Bates,  qf 
Missouri,  Attorney-General.  These  nominations  were  all 
confirmed  by  the  Senate,  and  these  gentlemen  entered 
upon  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  their  several  offices. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  Messrs.  John  Forsyth,  of  Ala- 
bama, and  Crawford,  of  Georgia,  requested  an  unofficial 
interview  with  the  Secretary  of  State,  which  the  latter 
declined.  On  the  13th  they  sent  to  him  a  communication, 
informing  him  that  they  were  in  Washington  as  commis- 
sioners from  a  government  composed  of  seven  States 
which  had  withdrawn  from  the  American  Union,  and  that 
they  desired  to  enter  upon  negotiations  for  the  adjustment 
of  all  questions  growing  out  of  this  separation.  Mr.  Sew- 
ard, by  direction  of  the  President,  declined  to  receive 
them,  because  it  "could  not  be  admitted  that  the  States 
referred  to  had,  in  law  or  fact,  withdrawn  from  the  Fed- 
eral Union,  or  that  they  could  do  so  in  any  other  manner 
than  with  the  consent  and  concert  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  to  be  given  through  a  National  Convention, 
to  be  assembled  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States."  This  communication, 
though  written  on  the  15th  of  March,  was  withheld,  with 
the  consent  of  the  Commissioners,  until  the  8th  of  April, 
when  it  was  delivered.  The  fact  of  its  receipt,  and  its 
character,  were  instantly  telegraphed  to  Charleston,  and 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  171 

it  was  made  the  occasion  for  precipitating  the  revolution 
by  an  act  which,  it  was  believed,  would  unite  all  the 
Southern  States  in  support  of  the  Confederacy.  On  the 
day  of  its  receipt,  the  8th  of  April,  General  Beauregard, 
at  Charleston,  telegraphed  to  L.  P.  Walker,  the  rebel 
Secretary  of  War,  at  Montgomery,  that  "an  authorized 
messenger  from  President  Lincoln  had  just  informed  Gov- 
ernor Pickens  and  himself  that  provisions  would  be  sent 
to  Fort  Sumter  peaceably,  or,  otherwise,  by  force."  Gen- 
eral Beauregard  was  instructed  to  demand  the  surrender 
of  the  fort,  which  he  did  on  the  11th,  and  was  at  once  in- 
formed by  Major  Anderson,  who  was  in  command,  that 
his  "  sense  of  honor  and  his  obligations  to  his  Government 
prevented  his  compliance."  On  the  night  of  the  same  day 
General  Beauregard  wrote  to  Major  Anderson,  by  orders 
of  his  Government,  that  if  he  "would  state  the  time  at 
which  he  would  evacuate  Fort  Sumter"  (as  it  was  known 
that  it  must  soon  be  evacuated  for  lack  of  provisions), 
"and  will  agree  that,  in  the  mean  time,  you  will  not  use 
your  guns  against  us  unless  ours  shall  be  employed 
against  Fort  Sumter,  we  will  abstain  from  opening  fire 
upon  you."  At  half-past  two  in  the  morning  of  the  12th, 
Major  Anderson  replied  that  he  would  evacuate  the  fort 
by  noon  on  the  15th,  abiding,  meantime,  by  the  terms 
proposed,  unless  he  should  "receive,  prior  to  that,  control 
ling  instructions  from  his  Government,  or  additional  sup 
plies."  In  reply  to  this  note  he  was  notified,  at  half-past 
three,  that  the  rebels  would  open  their  batteries  upon  the 
fort  in  one  hour  from  that  time.  This  they  did,  and,  after 
a  bombardment  of  thirty-three  hours,  Major  Anderson 
agreed  to  evacuate  the  fort,  which  he  carried  into  effect 
on  Sunday  morning,  the  14th. 

The  effect  of  this  open  act  of  war  was,  in  some  respects, 
precisely  what  had  been  anticipated  by  the  rebel  authori- 
ties :  in  other  respects,  it  was  very  different.  Upon  the 
Southern  States  it  had  the  effect  of  arousing  public  senti- 
ment to  the  highest  pitch  of  enthusiasm,  and  of  strength- 
ening the  rebel  cause.  At  the  North,  it  broke  down, 
for  the  moment,  all   party  distinctions,  and  united  the 


172  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

people  in  a  cordial  and  hearty  support,  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

The  President  regarded  it  as  an  armed  attack  upon  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  in  support  of  the  com- 
bination which  had  been  organized  into  a  Confederacy  to 
resist  and  destroy  its  authority,  and  he  saw,  at  once,  that 
it  could  "be  met  and  defeated  only  by  the  force  placed  in 
his  hands  for  the  maintenance  of  that  authority.  He 
accordingly,  on  the  15th  of  April,  issued  the  following 


PROCLAMATION. 
By  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

Whereas,  the  laws  of  the  United  States  have  been  for  some  time  past 
and  now  are  opposed,  and  the  execution  thereof  obstructed,  in  the  States 
of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and 
Texas,  by  combinations  too  powerful  to  be  suppressed  by  the  ordinary 
course  of  judicial  proceedings,  or  by  the  powers  vested  in  the  marshals 
by  law :  now,  therefore,  I,  Abkaham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  in  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  by  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws,  have  thought  fit  to  call  forth,  and  hereby  do  call  forth,  the  militia 
of  the  several  States  of  the  Union,  to  the  aggregate  number  of  seventy- 
five  thousand,  in  order  to  suppress  said  combinations,  and  to  cause  the 
laws  to  be  duly  executed. 

The  details  for  this  object  will  be  immediately  communicated  to  the 
State  authorities  through  the  War  Department.  I  appeal  to  all  loyal 
citizens  to  favor,  facilitate,  and  aid  this  effort  to  maintain  the  honor,  the 
integrity,  and  existence  of  our  National  Union,  and  the  perpetuity  of 
popular  government,  and  to  redress  wrongs  already  long  enough  endured, 
I  deem  it  proper  to  say  that  the  first  service  assigned  to  the  forces  hereby 
called  forth  will  probably  be  to  repossess  the  forts,  places,  and  property 
which  have  been  seized  from  the  Union ;  and  in  every  event  the  utmost 
care  will  be  observed,  consistently  with  the  objects  aforesaid,  to  a^oid 
any  devastation,  any  destruction  of,  or  interference  with,  property,  or  an  j 
disturbance  of  peaceful  citizens  of  any  part  of  the  country;  and  I  hereby 
command  the  persons  composing  the  combinations  aforesaid  to  disperse 
and  retire  peaceably  to  their  respective  abodes,  within  twenty  days  from 
this  date. 

Deeming  that  the  present  condition  of  public  affairs  presents  an  extra- 
ordinary occasion,  I  do  hereby,  in  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  by 
the  Constitution,  convene  both  houses  of  Congress.  The  Senators  and 
Representatives  are,  thereforo,  summoned  to  assemble  at  their  respective 
chambevs,  at  twelve  o'clock,  noon,  on  Thursday,  the  fourth  day  of  Julj 


State  Papers  op  Abraham  Lincoln.  173 

next,  then  and  there  to  consider  and  determine  such  measures  as,  in  their 
wisdom,  the  public  safety  and  interest  may  seem  to  demand. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  caused  the  seal 
of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  fifteenth  day  of  April,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- one,  and  of  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-fifth. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 
By  the  President. 
"William  H.  Sewaed,  Secretary  of  State. 

The  issue  of  this  Proclamation  created  the  most  intense 
enthusiasm  throughout  the  country.  Scarcely  a  voice 
was  raised  in  any  of  the  Northern  States  against  this 
measure,  which  was  seen  to  he  one  of  absolute  necessity 
and  of  self-defence  on  the  part  of  the  Government. 
Every  Northern  State  responded  promptly  to  the  Presi- 
dent' s  demand,  and  from  private  persons,  as  well  as  by 
the  legislatures,  men,  arms,  and  money  were  offered,  in 
unstinted  profusion  and  with  the  most  zealous  alacrity, 
in  support  of  the  Government.  Massachusetts  was  first 
in  the  field ;  and  on  the  first  day  after  the  issue  of  the 
Proclamation,  her  Sixth  Regiment,  completely  equipped, 
started  from  Boston  for  the  National  Capital.  Two  more 
regiments  were  also  made  ready,  and  took  their  departure 
within  forty-eight  hours.  The  Sixth  Regiment,  on  its 
way  to  Washington,  on  the  19th,  was  attacked  by  a  mob 
in  Baltimore,  carrying  a  secession  flag,  and  several  of  its 
members  were  killed  or  severely  wounded.  This  inflamed 
to  a  still  higher  point  the  excitement  which  already  per- 
vaded the  country.  The  whole  Northern  section  of  the 
Union  felt  outraged  that  troops  should  be  assailed,  and 
murdered  on  their  way  to  protect  the  Capital  of  the  Na- 
tion. In  Maryland,  where  the  Secession  party  was 
strong,  there  was  also  great  excitement,  and  the  Governor 
of  the  State  and  the  Mayor  of  Baltimore  united  in  urging 
for  prudential  reasons,  that  no  more  troops  should  be 
brought  through  that  city.  To  their  representation  th* 
President  made  the  following  reply : — 


174  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

Washington,  April  29, 1861. 
Governor  Hioks  and  Mayor  Brown  : 

Gentlemen  : — Your  letter  by  Messrs.  Bond,  Dobbin,  and  Bruno  is  re- 
ceived. I  tender  you  both  my  sincere  thanks  for  your  efforts  to  keep  the 
peace  in  the  trying  situation  in  which  you  are  placed. 

For  the  future,  troops  must  be  brought  here,  but  I  make  no  point  of 
bringing  them  through  Baltimore.  Without  any  military  knowledge  my- 
self, of  course  I  must  leave  details  to  General  Scott.  He  hastily  said  this 
morning  in  the  presence  of  these  gentlemen,  "  March  them  around  Balti- 
more, and  not  through  it."  I  sincerely  hope  the  General,  on  fuller  reflec- 
tion, will  consider  this  practical  and  proper,  and  that  you  will  not  object 
to  it.  By  this  a  collision  of  the  people  of  Baltimore  with  the  troops  will 
be  avoided,  unless  they  go  out  of  their  way  to  seek  it.  I  hope  you  will 
exert  your  influence  to  prevent  this. 

Now  and  ever  I  shall  do  all  in  my  power  for  peace  consistently  with 
the  maintenance  of  the  Government. 

Your  obedient  servant,  Abraham  Lincoln. 

And  in  further  response  to  the  same  request  from  Gov- 
ernor Hicks,  followed  by  a  suggestion  that  the  contro- 
versy between  the  North  and  South  might  be  referred  to 
Lord  Lyons,  the  British  Minister,  for  arbitration,  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  through  the  Secretary  of  State,  made  the 
following  reply : — 

Department  of  Static,  April  22, 1861. 

His  Excellency  Thomas  H.  Hioks,  Governor  of  Maryland : 

Sir  : — I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  communication  of  this 
morning,  in  which  you  inform  me  that  you  have  felt  it  to  be  your  duty 
to  advise  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  order  elsewhere  the  troops 
then  off  Annapolis,  and  also  that  no  more  may  be  sent  through  Maryland ; 
and  that  you  have  further  suggested  that  Lord  Lyons  be  requested  to  act 
as  mediator  between  the  contending  parties  in  our  country,  to  prevent 
the  effusion  of  blood. 

The  President  directs  me  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  that  communi- 
cation, and  to  assure  you  that  he  has  weighed  the  counsels  it  contains 
with  the  respect  which  he  habitually  cherishes  for  the  Chief  Magistrates 
of  the  several  States,  and  especially  for  yourself.  He  regrets,  as  deeply 
as  any  magistrate  or  citizen  of  this  country  can,  that  demonstrations 
against,  the  safety  of  the  United  States,  with  very  extensive  preparations 
for  the  effusion  of  blood,  have  made  it  his  duty  to  call  out  the  forces  to 
which  you  allude. 

The  force  now  sought  to  be  brought  through  Maryland  is  intended  for 
nothing  but  the  defence  of  the  Capital.  The  President  has  necessarily 
ftonlided  th^  choice  of  the  Matioual  highway  which  that  force  shall  take 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln  175 

In  coming  to  this  city  to  the  Lieutenant- General  commanding  the  Annj 
of  the  United  States,  who,  like  his  only  predecessor,  is  not  less  distin- 
guished for  his  humanity  than  for  his  loyalty,  patriotism,  and  distin- 
guished public  service. 

The  President  instructs  me  to  add,  that  the  National  highway  thus 
selected  by  the  Lieutenant-General  has  been  chosen  by  him  upon  consul- 
tation with  prominent  magistrates  and  citizens  of  Maryland  as  the  one 
which,  while  a  route  is  absolutely  necessary,  is  farthest  removed  from  the 
populous  cities  of  the  State,  and  with  the  expectation  that  it  would  there- 
fore be  the  least  objectionable  one. 

The  President  cannot  but  remember  that  there  has  been  a  time  in  the 
history  of  our  country  wh**i  a  general  of  the  American  Union,  with  forces 
designed  for  the  defence  of  its  Capital,  was  not  unwelcome  anywhere  in 
the  State  of  Maryland,  and  certainly  not  at  Annapolis,  then,  as  now,  the 
capital  of  that  patriotic  State,  and  then,  also,  one  of  the  capitals  of  the 
Union. 

If  eighty  years  could  have  obliterated  all  the  other  noble  sentiments  of 
that  age  in  Maryland,  the  President  would  be  hopeful,  nevertheless,  that 
there  is  one  that  would  forever  remain  there  and  everywhere.  That  sen- 
timent is,  that  no  domestic  contention  whatever  that  may  arise  among  the 
parties  of  this  Republic  ought  in  any  case  to  be  referred  to  any  foreign 
arbitrament,  least  of  all  to  the  arbitrament  of  a  European  monarchy. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  distinguished  consideration,  your  Excel- 
lency's obedient  servant,  William  H.  Sewabd. 

At  the  President's  request,  the  Mayor  of  Baltimore,  and 
a  number  of  leading;  influential  citizens  of  Maryland, 
waited  upon  him  at  Washington,  and  had  an  open  con- 
ference upon  the  condition  of  affairs  in  that  State.  The 
Mayor  subsequently  made  the  following  report  of  the  in- 
terview : — 

The  President,  upon  his  part,  recognized  the  good  faith  of  the  city  and 
State  authorities,  and  insisted  upon  his  own.  He  admitted  the  excited 
state  of  feeling  in  Baltimore,  and  his  desire  and  duty  to  avoid  the  fata) 
consequences  of  a  collision  with  the  people.  He  urged,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  absolute,  irresistible  necessity  of  having  a  transit  through  the 
State  for  such  troops  as  might  be  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the 
Federal  Capital.  The  protection  of  Washington,  he  asseverated  with  great 
earnestness,  was  the  sole  object  of  concentrating  troops  thtre ;  and  he 
protested  that  none  of  the  troops  brought  through  Maryland  were  in- 
tended for  any  purposes  hostile  to  the  State,  or  aggressive  as  against  the 
Southern  States.  Being  now  unable  to  bring  them  up  the  Potomac  io 
security,  the  Government  must  either  bring  them  through  Maryland  01 
abandon  the  Capital. 


176  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

lie  called  on  General  Scott  for  his  opinion,  which  the  General  gave  at 
length,  to  the  effect  that  troops  might  be  brought  through  Maryland, 
without  going  through  Baltimore,  by  either  carrying  them  from  Perrys- 
ville  to  Annapolis,  and  thence  by  rail  to  Washington,  or  by  bringing  them 
to  the  Relay  House  on  tne  Northern  Central  Railroad,  and  marching  them 
to  the  Relay  House  on  the  Washington  Railroad,  and  thence  by  rail  to 
the  Capital.  If  the  people  would  permit  them  to  go  by  either  of  those 
routes  uninterruptedly,  the  necessity  of  their  passing  through  Baltimore 
would  be  avoided.  If  the  people  would  not  permit  them  a  transit  thus 
remote  from  the  city,  they  must  select  their  own  best  route,  and,  if  need 
be,  fight  their  way  through  Baltimore — a  result  which  the  General  ear- 
nestly deprecated. 

The  President  expressed  his  hearty  concurrence  in  the  desire  to  avoid 
a  collision,  and  said  that  no  more  troops  should  be  ordered  through  Balti- 
more, if  they  were  permitted  to  go  uninterruptedly  by  either  of  the  other 
routes  suggested.  In  thig  disposition  the  Secretary  of  War  expressed  his 
participation. 

Mayor  Brown  assured  the  President  that  the  city  authorities  would  use 
all  lawful  means  to  prevent  their  citizens  from  leaving  Baltimore  to  attack 
the  troops  in  passing  at  a  distance  ;  but  he  urged,  at  the  same  time,  the 
impossibility  of  their  being  able  to  promise  any  thing  more  than  their 
best  efforts  in  that  direction.  The  excitement  was  great,  he  told  the 
President ;  the  people  of  all  classes  were  fully  aroused,  and  it  was  impos- 
sible for  any  one  to  answer  for  the  consequences  of  the  presence  of  North- 
ern troops  anywhere  within  our  borders.  He  reminded  the  President, 
also,  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  city  authorities  was  confined  to  their  own 
population,  and  that  he  could  give  no  promises  for  the  people  elsewhere, 
because  he  would  be  unable  to  keep  them  if  given.  The  President  frankly 
acknowledged  this  difficulty,  and  said  that  the  Government  would  only 
ask  the  city  authorities  to  use  their  best  efforts  with  respect  to  those 
under  their  jurisdiction. 

The  interview  terminated  with  the  distinct  assurance,  on  the  part  of 
the  President,  that  no  more  troops  would  be  sent  through  Baltimore  un- 
less obstructed  in  their  transit  in  other  direction?,  and  with  the  under- 
standing that  the  city  authorities  should  do  their  best  to  restrain  their 
own  people. 

In  accordance  with  this  understanding,  troops  were  for- 
warded to  Washington  "by  way  of  Annapolis,  until  peace 
and  order  were  restored  in  Baltimore,  when  the  regular 
use  of  the  highway  through  that  city  was  resumed,  and 
has  been  continued  without  interruption  to  the  present 
time. 

On  the  19th  of  April  the  President  issued  the  following 
proclamation,  blockading  the  ports  of  the  seceded  States:— 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln  177 

A  PROCLAMATION, 
By  the  President  of  the  Unitted  States. 

Whereas,  An  insurrection  against  tlio  Government  of  the  United  State* 
has  broken  out  in  the  States  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Flor- 
ida, Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
for  the  collection  of  the  revenue  cannot  be  efficiently  executed  therein 
conformable  to  that  provision  of  the  Constitution  which  required  dutie* 
to  be  uniform  throughout  the  United  States  :— 

And  whereas,  A  combination  of  persons,  engaged  in  such  insurrection, 
f*ave  threatened  to  grant  protended  letters  ot  marque,  to  authorize  the 
bearers  thereof  to  commit  assaults  on  the  lives,  vessels,  and  property  of 
the  good  citizens  of  the  country,  lawfully  engaged  in  commerce  on  the 
high  seas,  and  in  waters  of  the  United  States : — 

And  whereas,  An  Executive  Proclamation  has  been  already  issued,  re- 
quiring the  persons  engaged  in  these  disorderly  proceedings  to  desist 
therefrom,  calling  out  a  militia  force  for  the  purpose  of  repressing  the 
same,  and  convening  Congress  in  extraordinary  session  to  ^liberate  and 
determine  thereon : — 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  otatea, 
with  a  view  to  the  same  purposes  before  mentioned,  and  to  the  protec- 
tion of  the  public  peace,  and  the  lives  and  property  of  quiet  and  orderly 
citizens  pursuing  their  lawful  occupations,  until  Congress  shall  havo 
assembled  and  deliberated  on  the  said  unlawful  proceedings,  or  until  tho 
same  shall  have  ceased,  have  further  deemed  it  advisable  to  set  on  foot  a 
blockade  of  the  ports  within  the  States  aforesaid,  in  pursuance  of  tho 
laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  laws  of  nations  in  such  cases  pro- 
vided. For  this  purpose  a  competent  force  will  be  posted,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent entrance  and  exit  of  vessels  from  the  ports  aforesaid.  If,  therefore, 
with  a  view  to  violate  such  blockade,  a  vessel  shall  approach,  or  shall 
attempt  to  leave  any  of  the  said  ports,  she  will  be  duly  warned  by  the 
commander  of  one  of  the  blockading  vessels,  who  will  indorse  on  her 
register  the  fact  and  date  of  such  warning;  and  if  the  same  vessel  shall 
again  attempt  to  enter  or  leave  the  blockaded  port,  she  will  be  captured 
and  sent  to  the  nearest  convenient  port,  for  such  proceedings  againsl  hei 
and  her  cargo  as  prize  as  may  be  deemed  advisable. 

And  T  hereby  proclaim  and  declare,  that  if  any  person,  under  the  pio- 
tended  authority  of  such  States,  or  under  any  other  pretence,  shall  molesT 
a  vessel  of  the  United  States,  or  the  persons  or  cargo  on  board  of  her, 
Eucfc  persons  will  be  held  amenable  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States  fof 
the  prevention  aud  punishment  of  piracy. 

By  the  President  Abbajham  Lincoln. 

William  FL  SfctfARD,  Secretary  of  State. 
Washington,  April    I?,  laiil. 
12 


1 78  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

These  were  the  initial  steps  by  which  the  Government 
eought  to  repel  the  attempt  of  the  rebel  Confederacy  to 
overthrow  its  authority  by  force  of  arms.  Its  action  was 
at  that  time  wholly  defensive.  The  declarations  of  rebel 
officials,  as  well  as  the  language  of  the  Southern  press, 
indicated  very  clearly  their  intention  to  push  the  war 
begun  at  Sumter  into  the  North.  Jefferson  Davis  had 
himself  declared,  more  than  a  month  previous,  that  when- 
ever the  war  should  open,  the  North  and  not  the  South 
should  be  the  field  of  battle.  At  a  popular  demonstration 
held  at  Montgomery,  Ala.,  on  hearing  that  fire  had  been 
opened  upon  Sumter,  L.  P.  Walker,  the  rebel  Secretary 
of  War,  had  said,  that  while  "no  man  could  tell  where 
the  war  would  end,  he  would  prophesy  that  the  flag 
which  now  flaunts  the  breeze  here,  would  float  over  th* 
dome  of  the  old  Capitol  at  Washington  before  the  first  of 
May,"  and  that  it  "might  float  eventually  over  Faneul 
Hall  itself."  The  rebel  Government  had  gone  forward 
with  great  vigor  to  prepare  the  means  for  making  good 
these  predictions.  Volunteers  were  summoned  to  the 
field.  Besides  garrisoning  the  fortresses  in  their  posses- 
sion along  the  Southern  coast,  a  force  of  nearly  twenty 
thousand  men  was  pushed  rapidly  forward  to  Virginia. 
A  loan  of  eight  millions  of  dollars  was  raised,  and  Davis 
issued  a  proclamation  offering  letters  of  marque  to  all  per- 
sons who  might  desire  to  aid  the  rebel  Government  and 
enrich  themselves  by  depredations  upon  the  rich  and  ex- 
tended commerce  of  the  United  States.  The  South  thus 
plunged  openly  and  boldly  into  a  war  of  aggression  ;  and 
the  President,  in  strict  conformity  with  the  declaration  of  his 
Inaugural,  put  the  Government  upon  the  defensive,  and 
limited  the  military  operations  of  the  moment  to  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Capital. 

The  effect  of  these  preliminary  movements  upon  the 
Border  Slave  States  was  very  decided.  The  assault  upon 
Sumter  greatly  excited  the  public  mind  throughout  those 
States.  In  Virginia  it  was  made  to  inure  to  the  benefit  of  the 
rebels.  The  State  Convention,  which  had  been  in  session 
fince  the  13th  of  February,  was  composed  of  a  hundred 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  179 

and  fifty -two  delegates,  a  large  majority  of  whom  were 
Union  men.  The  Inaugural  of  President  Lincoln  had 
created  a  good  deal  of  excitement  among  the  members, 
and  a  very  animated  contest  had  followed  as  to  its  proper 
meaning.  The  secessionists  insisted  that  it  announced  a 
policy  of  coercion  towards  the  South,  and  had  seized  the 
occasion  to  urge  the  immediate  passage  of  an  ordinance  of 
secession.  This  gave  rise  to  a  stormy  debate,  in  which 
the  friends  of  the  Union  maintained  their  ascendency. 
The  news  of  the  attack  upon  Sumter  created  a  whirlwind 
of  excitement,  which  checked  somewhat  the  Union  move- 
ment ;  and,  on  the  13th  of  April,  Messrs.  Preston,  Stuart, 
and  Eandolph,  who  had  been  sent  to  Washington  to  as- 
certain the  President's  intentions  towards  the  South,  sent 
in  their  report,  which  was  received  just  after  Governor 
Pickens,  of  South  Carolina,  had  announced  the  attack 
upon  Sumter,  and  had  demanded  to  know  what  Virginia 
intended  to  do  in  the  war  they  had  just  commenced,  and 
in  which  they  were  determined  to  triumph  or  perish. 
The  Commi  doners  reported  that  the  President  had  mad* 
the  follow"*^,'  reply  to  their  inquiries : — 

To  Hon.  Messrs.  Pbeston,  Stuart  and  Randolph  : 

Gentlemen  : — As  a  committee  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  now  in  ses- 
sion, you  present  me  a  preamble  and  resolution  in  these  words : — 

Wliereas,  In  the  opinion  of  this  Convention,  the  uncertainty  which  pre- 
vails in  the  public  mind  as  to  the  policy  which  the  Federal  Executive  in- 
tends to  pursue  towards  the  seceded  States,  is  extremely  injurious  to  the 
industrial  and  commercial  interests  of  the  country,  tends  to  keep  up  an 
excitement  which  is  unfavorable  to  the  adjustment  of  the  pending  diffi- 
culties, and  threatens  a  disturbance  of  the  public  peace : — Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  delegates  be  appointed  to  wait  on 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  present  to  him  this  preamble,  and  re- 
spectfully ask  him  to  communicate  to  this  Convention  the  policy  which 
the  Federal  Executive  intends  to  pursue  in  regard  to  the  Confederate 
States. 

In  answer  I  have  to  say,  that  having,  at  the  beginning  of  my  official 
term,  expressed  my  intended  policy  as  plainly  as  I  was  able,  it  is  with 
deep  regret  and  mortification  I  now  learn  there  is  great  and  injurious  un- 
certainty in  the  public  mind  as  to  what  that  policy  is,  and  what  course  I 
intend  to  pursue.  Not  having  as  yet  seen  occasion  to  change,  it  is  now 
my  purpose  to  pursue  the  course  marked  out  in  the  Inaugural  Address. 
a  commend  a  careful  consideration  of  the  whole  document  as  the  best  ex- 


180  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

pre3sion  I  can  give  to  my  purposes.  As  I  then  and  therein  said,  I  now 
repeat,  "  The  power  confided  in  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and  pos- 
sess property  and  places  belonging  to  tho  Government,  and  to  collect  the 
duties  and  imposts;  but  beyond  what  is  necessary  for  these  objects  there 
will  be  no  invasion,  no  using  of  force  against  or  among  the  people  any- 
where." By  the  words  "property  and  places  belonging  to  the  Govern- 
ment," I  chiefly  allude  to  the  military  posts  and  property  which  were  in 
possession  of  the  Government  when  it  came  into  my  hands.  But  if,  a* 
now  appears  to  be  true,  in  pursuit  of  a  purpose  to  drive  the  United  State* 
authority  from  these  places,  an  unprovoked  assault  has  been  made  upon 
Fort  Sumter,  I  shall  hold  myself  at  liberty  to  repossess  it,  If  I  can,  like 
places  which  had  been  seized  before  the  Government  was  devolved  upoi 
me ;  and  in  any  event  I  shall,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  repel  force  by 
force.  In  case  it  proves  true  that  Fort  Sumter  has  been  assaulted,  as  ia 
reported,  I  shall,  perhaps,  cause  the  United  States  mails  to  be  withdrawn 
from  all  the  States  which  claim  to  have  seceded,  believing  that  the  com- 
mencement of  actual  war  against  the  Government  justifies  and  possibly 
demands  it.  I  scarcely  need  to  say  that  I  consider  the  military  posts  and 
property  situated  within  the  States  which  claim  to  have  seceded,  as  yet 
belonging  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  as  much  as  they  did 
before  the  supposed  secession.  Whatever  else  I  may  do  for  the  purpose, 
I  shall  not  attempt  to  collect  the  duties  and  imposts  by  any  armed  inva- 
sion of  any  part  of  the  country ;  not  meaning  by  this,  however,  that  I 
may  not  land  a  force  deemed  necessary  to  relieve  a  fort  upon  the  border 
of  the  country.  From  the  fact  that  I  have  quoted  a  part  of  the  Inaugural 
Address,  it  must  not  be  inferred  that  I  repudiate  any  other  part,  the 
whole  of  which  I  reaffirm,  except  so  far  as  what  I  now  say  of  the  mails 
may  be  regarded  as  a  modification. 

Abeaham  Lincoln. 


On  the  17th,  two  days  after  this  report  was  presented, 
an  3.  immediately  after  receiving  the  President's  procla- 
mation calling  for  troops,  the  Convention  passed  an  ordi 
nance  of  secession  "by  a  vote  of  eighty-eight  to  fifty -five  ; 
and  Virginia,  being  thns  the  most  advanced  member  of  the 
rebel  Confederacy,  became  the  battle-field  of  all  the  earlier 
contests  which  ensued,  and  on  the  21  st  of  May  the  capital 
of  the  rebel  Government  w^as  transferred  to  Richmond. 
Very  strenuous  efforts  were  made  by  the  rebel  authori 
ties  to  secure  the  adhesion  of  Maryland,  Kentucky,  Ten- 
nessee, and  Missouri  to  the  Confederacy ;  but  the  wise 
forbearance  of  the  President  in  his  earlier  measures  had 
checked  these  endeavors,  and  held  all  those  States  but 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  181 

Ton.nc^3eb  aloof  from  active  participation  in  the  secession 
snovemeri 

The  months  of  May  and  June  were  devoted  to  the  most 
active  and  vigorous  preparations  on  both  sides  for  the 
contest  which  was  keen  to  be  inevitable.  Over  a  hundred 
thousand  troops  bail  been  raised  and  organized  in  the 
rebel  States,  and  the  pvreat  mass  of  them  had  been  pushed 
forward  towards  the  Northern  border.  On  the  20th  of 
April,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  seized  all  the 
dispatches  which  had  a^numlated  in  the  telegraph  offices 
during  the  preceding  y^xr,  for  the  purpose  of  detecting 
movements  in  aid  of  the  rebel  conspiracy.  On  the  27th 
of  April  the  blockade  of  rebel  ports  was  extended  by 
proclamation  to  the  ports  of  Xorth  Carolina  and  Virginia. 
On  the  3d  of  May  the  President  issued  a  proclamation 
calling  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  forty-tw 
thousand  and  thirty -four  volunteers  for  three  years,  ant 
ordering  an  addition  of  twenty  -two  thousand  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  officers  and  mew  to  the  regular  army,  and 
eighteen  thousand  seamen  to  tue  navy.  And  on  the  16th, 
by  another  proclamation,  he  directed  the  commander  of 
the  United  States  forces  in  FlGrxda  to  "  permit  no  person 
to  exercise  any  office  or  authority  upon  the  islands  of 
Ke^  West,  Tortugas,  and  Santa  Rosa,  which  may  be  in- 
consistent with  the  laws  and  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  ;  authorizing  him,  at  the  same  time,  if  he  shall  find 
it  necessary,  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  to 
remove  from  the  vicinity  of  the  United  States  fortresses 
all  dangerous  and  suspected  persons." 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  the  new  Administration  was 
to  define  the  position  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  towards  foreign  nations  in  view  of  the 
rebellion.  While  it  is  impossible  to  enter  here  upon  this 
very  wide  branch  of  the  general  subject  at  any  consid- 
erable length,  this  history  would  be  incomplete  if  it  did 
not  state,  in  official  language,  the  attitude  which  the  Presi- 
dent decided  to  assume.  That  is  very  distinctly  set  forth 
in  the  letter  of  instructions  prepared  by  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  Mr.  Adams,  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for 


182  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

the  court    of  St.    James,  and  dated    April  1      in    the 
following  terms : — 

Before  considering  the  arguments  yon  are  to  use,  it  is  fm  i  rttnt  to  in- 
dicate those  which  you  are  not  to  employ  in  executing  that  mission  : — 

Fir »t.  The  President  has  notioed,  as  the  whole  American  people  have, 
with  much  emotion,  the  expressions  of  good-will  and  friendship  towards 
the  United  States,  and  of  concern  for  their  present  embarrassments,  which 
have  been  made  on  apt  occasions,  by  her  Majesty  and  her  ministers.  You 
will  make  due  acknowledgment  for  these  manifestations,  but  at  the  same 
time  you  will  not  rely  on  any  mere  sympathies  or  national  kindness.  Yoa 
will  make  no  admissions  of  weakness  in  our  Constitution,  or  of  apprehen- 
sion on  the  part  of  the  Government.  You  will  rather  prove,  as  you  easily 
can,  by  comparing  the  history  of  our  country  with  that  of  other  States, 
thai  its  Constitution  and  Government  are  really  the  strongest  and  surest 
which  have  ever  been  erected  for  the  safety  of  any  people.  You  will  in  no 
case  listen  to  any  suggestions  of  compromise  by  this  Government,  under 
foreign  auspices,  with  its  discontented  citizens.  If,  as  the  President  does 
not  at  all  apprehend,  you  shall  unhappily  find  her  Majesty's  Government 
tolerating  the  application  of  the  so-called  seceding  States,  or  wavering 
about  it,  you  will  not  leave  them  to  suppose  for  a  moment  that  they  can 
grant  that  application  and  remain  the  friends  of  the  United  States.  You 
may  even  assure  them  promptly,  in  that  case,  that  if  they  determine  to  rec- 
ognize, they  may  at  the  same  time  prepare  to  enter  into  alliance  with  the 
enemies  of  this  Republic.  You  alone  will  represent  your  country  at  Lon- 
don, and  you  will  represent  the  whole  of  it  there.  When  you  are  asked 
to  divide  that  duty  with  others,  diplomatic  relations  between  the  Govern- 
ment of  Great  Britain  and  this  Government  will  be  suspended,  and  will 
remain  so  until  it  shall  be  seen  which  of  the  two  is  most  strongly  in- 
trenched in  the  confidence  of  their  respective  nations  and  of  mankind. 

You  will  not  be  allowed,  however,  even  if  you  were  disposed,  as  the 
President  is  sure  you  will  not  be,  to  rest  your  opposition  to  the  applica- 
tion of  the  Confederate  States  on  the  ground  of  any  favor  this  Adminis- 
tration, or  the  party  which  chiefly  called  it  into  existence,  proposes  to 
show  to  Great  Britain,  or  claims  that  Great  Britain  ought  to  show  them. 
You  will  not  consent  to  draw  into  debate  before  the  British  Government 
any  opposing  moral  principles  which  may  be  supposed  to  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  the  controversy  between  those  States  and  the  Federal 
Union. 

You  will  indulge  in  no  expressions  of  harshness  or  disrespect,  or  even 
impatience,  concerning  the  seceding  States,  their  agents,  or  their  people. 
But  you  will,  on  the  contrary,  all  the  while  remember  that  those  States 
are  now,  as  they  always  heretofore  have  been,  and,  notwithstanding  their 
temporary  self-delusion,  they  must  always  continue  to  be,  equal  and 
honored  members  of  this  Federal  Union,  and  that  their  citizens  through- 
put all  political  niisunderstandings  and  alienations  still  are  and  alwayi 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  183 

mubt  be  our  kindred  and  countrymen.  In  short,  all  your  arguments  must 
belong  to  one  of  three  classes,  namely :  First.  Arguments  drawn  from 
the  principles  of  public  law  and  natural  justice,  which  regulate  the  inter- 
course of  equal  States.  Secondly.  Arguments  which  concern  equally  the 
honor,  welfare,  and  happiness  of  the  discontented  States,  and  the  honor, 
welfare,  and  happiness  of  the  whole  Union.  Thirdly.  Arguments  which 
are  equally  conservative  of  the  rights  and  interests,  and  even  sentiments 
of  the  United  States,  and  just  in  their  bearing  upon  the  rights,  interests, 
and  sentiments  of  Great  Britain  and  all  other  nations. 

Just  previous  to  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Adams  at  Ms  post, 
the  British  Government  determined,  acting  in  concert 
with  that  of  France,  to  recognize  the  rebels  as  a  bellige- 
rent power.  Against  this  recognition  our  Government 
directed  Mr.  Adams  to  make  a  decided  and  energetic  pro- 
test. On  the  fifteenth  of  June  the  British  and  French 
Ministers  at  Washington  requested  an  interview  with  the 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  purpose  of  reading  to  him  cer- 
tain instructions  they  had  received  on  this  subject  from 
their  respective  governments.  Mr.  Seward  declined  to 
hear  them  officially  until  he  knew  the  nature  of  the  docu- 
ment, which  was  accordingly  left  with  him  for  perusal, 
and  he  afterwards  declined  altogether  to  hear  it  read,  01 
receive  official  notice  of  it.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Adams,  on 
the  19th,  he  thus  states  its  character  and  contents :  — 

That  paper  purports  to  contain  a  decision  at  which  the  British  Govern- 
ment has  arrived,  to  the  effect  that  this  country  is  divided  into  tws 
belligerent  parties,  of  which  the  Government  represents  one,  and  that 
Great  Britain  assumes  the  attitude  of  a  neutral  between  them. 

This  Government  could  not,  consistently  with  a  just  regard  for  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  United  States,  permit  itself  to  debate  these  novel  and 
extraordinary  positions  with  the  Government  of  her  Britannic  Majesty ; 
much  less  can  we  consent  that  that  Government  shall  announce  to  us  a 
decision  derogating  from  that  sovereignty,  at  which  it  has  arrived  with- 
out previously  conferring  with  us  upon  the  question.  The  United  States 
are  still  solely  and  exclusively  sovereign  within  the  territories  they  have 
lawfully  acquired  and  long  possessed,  as  they  have  always  been.  They 
are  at  peace  with  all  the  world,  as,  with  unimportant  exceptions,  they  have 
always  been.  They  are  living  under  the  obligations  of  the  law  of  nations, 
and  of  treaties  with  Great  Britain,  just  the  same  now  as  heretofore ;  they 
are,  of  course,  the  friend  of  Great  Britain,  and  they  insist  that  Great  Britain 
■hall  remain  their  friend  now,  just  as  she  has  hitherto  been.  Great  Britain, 
by  Virtue  of  these  relations,  is  a  stnmger  to  partiea  and  sections  in  *K»j 


184  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

country,  whether  they  are  loyal  to  the  United  States  or  not,  and  Great 
Britain  can  neither  rightfully  qualify  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States, 
nor  concede,  nor  recognize  any  rights  or  interests  or  power  of  any  party» 
State,  or  section,  in  contravention  to  the  unbroken  sovereignty  of  the  Fed- 
eral Union.  What  is  now  seen  in  this  country  is  the  occurrence,  by  no 
means  peculiar,  but  frequent  in  all  countries — more  frequent  even  in  Great 
Britain  than  here — of  an  armed  insurrection  engaged  in  attempting  to 
overthrow  the  regularly  constituted  and  established  Government.  Theri 
is,  of  course,  the  employment  of  force  by  the  Government  to  snprreat 
the  insurrection,  as  every  other  government  necessarily  employs  force  in 
such  cases.  But  these  incidents  by  no  means  constitute  a  state  of  war 
impairing  the  sovereignty  of  the  Government,  creating  belligerent  sec- 
tions, and  entitling  foreign  States  to  intervene,  or  to  act  as  neutrals 
between  them,  or  in  any  other  way  to  cast  off  their  lawful  obligations  tc 
the  nation  thus  for  the  moment  disturbed.  Any  other  principle  than 
this  would  be  to  resolve  government  everywhere  into  a  thing  of  accident 
and  caprice,  and  ultimately  all  human  society  into  a  state  of  perpetual 
war. 

We  do  not  go  into  any  argument  of  fact  or  of  law  in  support  of  the 
position?  we  have  thus  assumed.  They  are  simply  the  suggestions  of  the 
instinct  of  self-defence,  the  primary  law  of  human  action — not  more  the 
law  of  individual  than  of  National  life. 


Similar  views  were  presented  for  the  consideration  of 
the  French  Emperor,  and,  indeed,  of  all  the  foreign  g  w- 
ernments  with  which  we  held  diplomatic  intercourse.  1  he 
action  of  the  seceding  States  was  treated  as  rebel  1?  >n, 
purely  domestic  in  its  character,  upon  the  nature  or 
merits  of  which  it  would  be  unbecoming  in  us  to  h  >ld 
any  discussion  with  any  foreign  Power.  The  Presidf  nt 
pressed  upon  all  those  governments  the  duty  of  accepting 
this  view  of  the  question,  and  of  abstaining,  consequently 
from  every  act  which  could  be  construed  into  any  recog- 
nition of  the  rebel  Confederacy,  or  which  could  embar- 
rass the  Government  of  the  United  States  in  its  endeav- 
ors to  re-establish  its  rightful  authority.  Especial  pains 
were  taken,  by  the  most  emphatic  declarations,  to  leave 
no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  foreign  statesman  as  to  the 
purpose  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  accomplish 
that  result,  "You  cannot  be  too  decided  or  explicit, " 
was  the  uniform  language  of  the  Secretary,  "in  making 
known  to  the  Government  that  there  is  not  now,  nor  haa 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  185 

there  been,  nor  will  there  be,  any  the  least  idea  existing 
in  this  Government  of  Buffering  a  dissolution  of  this 
Union  to  take  place  in  any  way  whatever."  Efforts  were 
also  made  by  our  Government  to  define,  with  the  preci- 
sion which  the  novel  features  of  the  case  required,  the 
law  of  nations  in  regard  to  neutral  rights,  and  also  to 
secure  a  general  concurrence  of  the  maritime  powers  in 
the  principles  of  the  Paris  Convention  of  1859  :  the  latter 
object  was,  however,  thwarted  by  the  demand  made  by 
both  Fiance  and  England,  that  they  should  not  be  re- 
quired to  abide  by  these  principles  in  their  application  to 
the  internal  conflict  which  was  going  on  in  the  United 
States.  This  demand  the  President  pronounced  inadmis- 
sible. 


1S6  The  Life,  Fublic  Services,  and 


CHAPTER  VH. 

! 

THE   EXTRA  SESSION  OP  CONGRESS,  AND  TEE  MILITARY  EVENTS 
OP  THE  SUMMER  OP  1861. 

Fiest  Annual  Message. — Action  of  Congress.— Slavery  and  Con- 
fiscation.— The  Defeat  at  Bull  Run. — Treatment  of  the  Slavery 
Question. — General  Fremont  and  the  President. — The  Trent 
Affair. 

In  pursuance  of  the  President's  proclamation  of  the 
15th  of  April,  Congress  met  in  extra  session  on  the  4th 
of  July,  1861.  The  Republicans  had  control  of  both 
houses,  counting  thirty-one  votes  out  of  forty-eight  in 
the  Senate,  and  one  hundred  and  six  out  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy-eight  in  the  House ;  there  being,  moreover, 
five  in  the  Senate  and  twenty-eight  in  the  House  who, 
without  belonging  to  the  Republican  party,  supported 
the  Administration  in  its  efforts  to  preserve  the  Union . 
Hon.  G.  A.  Grow  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House ; 
and,  on  the  oth,  the  President  communicated  to  Congress 
his  first  Annual  Message,  as  follows  : — 

Fellow- Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives: — 

Having  been  convened  on  an  extraordinary  occasion,  as  authorized  by 
the  Constitution,  your  attention  is  not  called  to  any  ordinary  subject  o* 
legislation. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  present  Presidential  term,  four  months  ago,  the 
functions  of  the  Federal  Government  were  found  to  be  generally  suspend- 
ed within  the  several  States  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Missis- 
sippi, Louisiana,  and  Florida,  excepting  only  those  of  the  Post-Office 
Department. 

Within  these  States  all  the  forts,  arsenals,  dock-yards,  custom-houses, 
and  the  like,  including  the  movable  and  stationary  property  in  and  about 
them,  had  been  seized,  and  were  held  in  open  hostility  to  this  Govern- 
ment, excepting  only  Forts  Pickens,  Taylor,  and  Jefferson,  on  and  neat 
the  Florida  coast,  and  Fort  Sumter,  in  Charleston  Harbor,  South  Carolina. 
The  forts  thus  seized  had  been  put  in  improved  condition,  new  ones  bad 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  187 

beeo  built,  and  armed  forces  had  been  organized  and  were  organizing,  all 
avowedly  with  the  same  hostile  purpose. 

The  forts  remaining  in  the  possession  of  the  Foderal  Government  in 
and  near  these  States  were  either  besieged  or  menaced  by  warlike  prepa- 
rations, and  especially  Fort  Sumter  was  nearly  surrounded  by  well- 
protected  hostile  batteries,  with  guns  equal  in  quality  to  the  best  of  its 
own,  and  outnumbering  the  latter  as  perhaps  ten  to  one.  A  dispropor- 
tionate share  of  the  Federal  muskets  and  rifles  had  somehow  found  their 
way  into  these  States,  and  had  been  seized  to  be  used  against  the  Govern- 
ment Accumulations  of  the  public  revenue,  lying  within  them,  had 
been  seized  for  the  same  object.  The  Navy  was  scattered  in  distant  seas, 
leaving  but  a  very  small  part  of  it  within  the  immediate  reach  of  thfc 
Government.  Officers  of  the  Federal  Army  and  Navy  had  resigned  in 
gr»at  numbers;  and  of  those  resigning,  a  large  proportion  had  taken  up 
arms  against  the  Government.  Simultaneously,  and  in  connection  with 
all  this,  the  purpose  to  sever  the  Federal  Union  was  openly  avowed.  In 
accordance  with  this  purpose,  an  ordinance  had  been  adopted  in  each  of 
these  States,  declaring  the  States,  respectively,  to  be  separated  from  the 
National  Union.  A  formula  for  instituting  a  combined  government  of 
these  States  had  been  promulgated ;  and  this  illegal  organization,  in  the 
character  of  the  Confederate  States,  was  already  invoking  recognition,  aid, 
and  intervention  from  foreign  Powers. 

Finding  this  condition  of  things,  and  believing  it  to  be  an  imperative 
duty  upon  the  incoming  Executive  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  consumma- 
tion of  such  attempt  to  destroy  the  Federal  Union,  a  choice  of  means 
to  that  end  became  indispensable.  This  choice  was  made,  and  was  de- 
clared in  the  Inaugural  Address.  The  policy  chosen  looked  to  the  exhaus- 
tion of  all  peaceful  measures  before  a  resort  to  any  stronger  ones.  It 
sought  only  to  hold  the  public  places  and  property  not  already  wrested 
from  the  Government,  and  to  collect  the  revenue,  relying  for  the  rest  on 
time,  discussion,  and  the  ballot-box.  It  promised  a  continuance  of  tbe 
mails,  at  Government  expense,  to  the  very  people  who  were  resisting  the 
Government;  and  it  gave  repeated  pledges  against  any  disturbance  to 
any  of  the  people,  or  any  of  their  rights.  Of  all  that  which  a  President 
might  constitutionally  and  justifiably  do  in  such  a  case,  every  thing  was 
forborne,  without  which  it  was  believed  possible  to  keep  the  Government 
on  foot. 

On  the  5th  of  March  (the  present  incumbent's  first  full  day  in  office), 
a  letter  of  Major  Anderson,  commanding  at  Fort  Sumter,  written  on  the 
28th  of  February,  and  received  at  the  War  Department  on  the  4th  of 
March,  was  by  that  Department  placed  in  his  hands.  This  letter  ex- 
pressed the  professional  opinion  of  the  writer,  that  reinforcements  could 
not  be  thrown  into  that  fort  within  the  time  for  his  relief,  rendered  ne- 
cessary by  the  limited  supply  of  provisions,  and  with  a  view  of  holding 
possession  of  the  same,  with  a  force  of  less  than  twenty  thousand  good 


188  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

j;ml  well-disciplined  men.      This  opinion  was  concurred  in  by  all  the 
<  fficers  of  his  command,  and  their  memoranda  on  the  subject  were  made 
enclosures  of  Major  Anderson's  letter.     The  whole  was  immediately  laid 
before  Lieutenant-General  Scott,  who  at  once  concurred  with  Major 
Anderson  in  opinion.      On  reflection,  however,  he  took  full  time,  con- 
yilting  with  other  officers,  both  of  the  army  and  the  navy ;  and  at  the 
i\A  of  four  days  came  reluctantly,  but  decidedly,  to  the  same  conclusion 
as  before.     He  also  stated  at  the  same  time  that  no  such  sufficient  fore 
vas  then  at  the  control  of  the  Government,  or  could  be  raised   an 
brought  to  the  ground  within  the  time  when  the  provisions  in  the  for 
would  be  exhausted.    In  a  purely  military  point  of  view,  this  reduced 
the  duty  of  the  Administration  in  the  case  to  the  mere  matter  of  getting 
the  garrison  safely  out  of  the  fort. 

It  was  believed,  however,  that  to  so  abandon  that  position,  under  the 
circumstances,  would  be  utterly  ruinous  ;  that  the  necessity  under  which 
it  was  to  be  done  would  not  be  fully  understood ;  that  by  many  it  would 
be  i  onstrued  as  a  part  of  a  voluntary  policy ;  that  at  home  it  would  dis- 
courage the  friends  of  the  Union,  embolden  its  adversaries,  and  go  far  to 
insure  to  the  latter  a  recognition  abroad;  that,  in  fact,  it  would  be  our 
National  destruction  consummated.  This  could  not  be  allowed.  Star- 
vation was  not  yet  upon  the  garrison ;  and  ere  it  would  be  reached  Fort 
Pickens  might  be  re-enforced.  This  would  be  a  clear  indication  of  policy, 
and  would  better  enable  the  country  to  accept  the  evacuation  of  Fort 
Sumter  as  a  military  necessity.  An  order  was  at  once  directed  to  be  sent 
for  the  landing  of  the  troops  from  the  steamship  Brooklyn  into  Fort 
Pickens.  This  order  could  not  go  by  land,  but  must  take  the  longer  and 
slower  route  by  sea.  The  first  return  news  from  the  order  was  received 
just  one  week  before  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter.  The  news  itself  was,  that 
the  officer  commanding  the  Sabine,  to  which  vessel  the  troops  had  been 
transferred  from  the  Brooklyn,  acting  upon  some  quasi  armistice  of  the 
late  Administration  (and  of  the  existence  of  which  the  present  Adminis- 
tration, up  to  the  time  the  order  was  dispatched,  had  only  too  vague  and 
uncertain  rumors  to  fix  attention),  had  refused  to  land  the  troops.  To 
now  re-enforce  Fort  Pickens  before  a  crisis  would  be  reached  at  Fort 
Sumter,  was  impossible — rendered  so  by  the  near  exhaustion  of  provisions 
in  the  latter-named  fort.  In  precaution  against  such  a  conjuncture,  the 
Government  had  a  few  days  before  commenced  preparing  an  expedition, 
as  well  adapted  as  might  be,  to  relieve  Fort  Sumter,  which  expedition 
was  intended  to  be  ultimately  used  or  not,  according  to  circumstances. 
Th9  strongest  anticipated  case  for  using  it  was  now  presented,  and  it  was 
resolved  to  send  it  forward.  As  had  been  intended  in  this  contingency, 
it  was  also  resolved  to  notify  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina  that  h« 
might  expect  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  provision  the  fort ;  and  that, 
if  the  attempt  should  not  be  resisted,  there  would  be  no  effort  to  throw 
in  men,  arms,  or  ammunition,  without  further  notice,  or  in  case  of  an 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincolit.  189 

attack  upon  the  fort.  This  notice  was  accordingly  given ;  whereupon 
the  fort  was  attacked  and  bombarded  to  its  fall,  without  even  awaiting 
the  arrival  of  the  provisioning  expedition. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  assault  upon  and  reduction  of  Fort  Sumter  was 
in  no  sense  a  matter  of  self-defence  upon  the  part  of  the  assailants.  They 
well  knew  that  the  garrison  in  the  fort  could  by  no  possibility  commit 
aggression  upon  them.  They  knew — they  were  expressly  notified — that 
the  giving  of  bread  to  the  few  brave  and  hungry  men  of  the  garrison 
was  all  which  would  on  that  occasion  be  attempted,  unless  themselves, 
by  resisting  so  much,  should  provoke  more.  They  knew  that  this  Gov- 
ernment desired  to  keep  the  garrison  in  the  fort,  not  to  assail  them,  but 
ti  maintain  visible  possession,  and  thus  to  preserve  the  Union  from 
actual  and  immediate  dissolution — trusting,  as  hereinbefore  stated,  to 
time,  discussion,  and  the  ballot-box  for  final  adjustment;  and  they  as- 
sailed and  reduced  the  fort  for  precisely  the  reverse  object — to  drive  out 
the  visible  authority  of  the  Federal  Union,  and  thus  force  it  to  immediate 
dissolution.  That  this  was  their  object  the  Executive  well  understood ; 
and  having  said  to  them  in  the  Inaugural  Address,  "  You  can  have  no 
conflict  without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors,"  he  took  pains  not 
only  to  keep  this  declaration  good,  but  also  to  keep  the  case  so  free  from 
the  power  of  ingenious  sophistry  that  the  world  should  not  be  able  to 
misunderstand  it.  By  the  affair  at  Fort  Sumter,  with  its  surrounding 
circumstances,  that  point  was  reached.  Then  and  thereby  the  assailants 
of  the  Government  began  the  conflict  of  arms,  without  a  gun  in  sight, 
or  in  expectancy  to  return  their  fire,  save  only  the  few  in  the  fort,  sent 
to  that,  harbor  years  before  for  their  own  protection,  and  still  ready  to 
give  that  protection  in  whatever  was  lawful.  In  this  act,  discarding  all 
else,  they  have  forced  upon  the  country  the  distinct  issue,  "  immediate 
dissolution  or  blood." 

And  this  issue  embraces  more  than  the  fate  of  these  United  States.  It 
presents  to  the  whole  family  of  man  the  question,  whether  a  constitu- 
tional republic  or  democracy — a  government  of  the  people  by  the  same 
people — can  or  cannot  maintain  its  territorial  integrity  against  its  own 
domestic  foes.  It  presents  the  question,  whether  discontented  individ- 
uals, too  few  in  numbers  to  control  administration,  according  to  organic 
law,  in  any  case,  can  always,  upon  the  pretences  made  in  this  case,  or  on 
any  other  pretences,  or  arbitrarily,  without  any  pretence,  break  up  their 
Government,  and  thus  practically  put  an  end  to  free  government  upon 
the  earth.  It  forces  us  to  ask,  "Is  there,  in  all  republics,  this  inherent 
and  fatal  weakness?"  "Must  a  government,  of  necessity,  be  too  strong 
for  the  liberties  of  its  own  people,  or  too  weak  to  maintain  its  own  exist- 
ence?" 

So  viewing  the  issue,  no  choice  was  left  but  to  call  out  the  war  powef 
of  the  Government;  and  so  to  resist  force  employed  for  its  destruction 
by  force  for  its  preservation. 


190  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

The  call  was  made,  and  the  response  of  the  country  was  most  gratify- 
ing— surpassing  in  unanimity  and  spirit  the  most  sanguine  expectatioa 
Yet  none  of  the  States  commonly  called  Slave  States,  except  Delaware, 
gave  a  regiment  through  regular  State  organization.  A  few  regiments 
have  been  organized  within  some  others  of  those  States  by  individual 
enterprise,  and  received  into  the  Government  service.  Of  course,  the 
eeceded  States,  so  called  (and  to  which  Texas  had  been  joined  about  the 
time  of  the  inauguration),  gave  no  troops  to  the  cause  of  the  Union. 
The  Border  States,  so  called,  were  not  uniform  in  their  action,  some  of  them 
being  almost  for  the  Union,  while  in  others — as  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
Tennessee,  and  Arkansas — the  Union  sentiment  was  nearly  repressed  and 
silenced.  The  course  taken  in  Virginia  was  the  most  remarkable — per- 
haps the  most  important.  A  convention,  elected  by  the  people  of  that 
State  to  consider  this  very  question  of  disrupting  the  Federal  Union, 
was  iu  session  at  the  Capital  of  Virginia  when  Fort  Sumter  fell.  To  this 
body  the  people  had  chosen  a  large  majority  of  professed  Union  men. 
Almost  immediately  after  the  fall  of  Sumter  many  members  of  that 
majority  went  over  to  the  original  disunion  minority,  and  with  them 
adopted  an  ordinance  for  withdrawing  the  State  from  the  Union.  Whether 
this  change  was  wrought  by  their  great  approval  of  the  assault  upon 
Sumter,  or  their  great  resentment  at  the  Government's  resistance  to  that 
assault,  is  not  definitely  known.  Although  they  submitted  the  ordinance 
for  ratification  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  to  be  taken  on  a  day  then  some 
what  more  than  a  month  distant,  the  Convention  and  the  Legislature 
(which  was  also  in  session  at  the  same  time  and  place),  with  leading 
men  of  the  State  not  members  of  either,  immediately  commenced  acting 
as  if  the  State  were  already  out  of  the  Union.  They  pushed  military 
preparations  vigorously  forward  all  over  the  State.  They  seized  the 
United  States  armory  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  the  navy-yard  at  Gosport, 
near  Norfolk.  They  received — perhaps  invited — into  their  State  large 
bodies  of  troops,  with  their  warlike  appointments,  from  the  so-called 
seceded  States.  They  formally  entered  into  a  treaty  of  temporary  alii 
anco  and  co-operation  with  the  so-called  "Confederate  States,"  and  sent 
members  to  their  Congress  at  Montgomery;  and,  finally,  they  permitted 
the  insurrectionary  Government  to  be  transferred  to  their  capital  at  Rich 
mond. 

The  people  of  Virginia  have  thus  allowed  this  giant  insurrection  to 
make  its  nest  within  her  borders ;  and  this  Government  has  no  choice 
left  but  to  deal  with  it  where  it  finds  it.  And  it  has  the  less  regret,  as 
the  loyal  citizens  have  in  due  form  claimed  its  protection.  Those  loyal 
citizens  this  Government  is  bound  to  recognize  and  protect  as  being 
Virginia. 

In  the  Border  States,  so-called — in  fact,  the  Middle  States — there  are 
those  who  favor  a  policy  which  they  call  M  armed  neutrality" — that  is 
an  arming  of  those  States  to  prevent  the  Union  forces  passing  one  way, 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  191 

or  the  disunion  tbe  other,  over  their  soil.  This  would  be  disunion  com- 
pleted. Figuratively  speaking,  it  would  be  the  building  of  an  impassable 
wall  along  the  line  of  separation — and  yet  not  quite  an  impassable  ore, 
for,  under  the  guise  of  neutrality,  it  would  tie  the  hands  of  Union  men, 
and  freely  pass  supplies  from  among  them  to  the  insurrectionists,  which 
it  could  not  do  as  an  open  enemy.  At  a  stroke  it  would  take  all  the 
trouble  off  the  hands  of  secession,  except  only  what  proceeds  from  the 
external  blockade.  It  would  do  for  the  disunionists  that  which  of  all 
things  they  most  desire — feed  them  well,  and  give  them  disunion  without 
a  struggle  of  their  own.  It  recognizes  no  fidelity  to  the  Constitution, 
no  obligation  to  maintain  the  Union;  and  while  very  many  who  have 
favored  it  are  doubtless  loyal  citizens,  it  is,  nevertheless,  very  injurious 
in  effect. 

Recurring  to  the  action  of  the  Government,  it  may  be  stated  that  at 
first  a  call  was  made  for  seventy-five  thousand  militia;  and  rapidly  fol- 
lowing this,  a  proclamation  was  issued  for  closing  the  ports  of  the  insur- 
rectionary districts  by  proceedings  in  the  nature  of  a  blockade.  So  far 
ail  was  believed  to  be  strictly  legal.  At  this  point  the  insurrectionists 
announced  their  purpose  to  enter  upon  the  practice  of  privateering. 

Other  calls  were  made  for  volunteers  to  serve  for  three  years,  unless 
sooner  discharged,  and  also  for  large  additions  to  the  regular  army  and 
navy.  These  measures,  whether  strictly  legal  or  not,  were  ventured  upon 
under  what  appeared  to  be  a  popular  demand  and  a  public  necessity; 
trusting  then,  as  now,  that  Congress  would  readily  ratify  them.  It  is 
believed  that  nothing  has  been  done  beyond  the  constitutional  compe- 
tency of  Congress. 

Soon  after  the  first  call  for  militia,  it  was  considered  a  duty  to  authorize 
the  Commanding-General,  in  proper  cases,  according  to  his  discretion, 
to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  or,  in  other  words, 
to  arrest  and  detain,  without  resort  to  the  ordinary  processes  and  forms 
of  law,  such  individuals  as  he  might  deem  dangerous  to  the  public  safety. 
This  authority  has  purposely  been  exercised  but  very  sparingly.  Never- 
theless, the  legality  and  propriety  of  what  has  been  done  under  it  are 
questioned,  and  the  attention  of  the  country  has  been  called  to  the 
proposition,  that  one  who  has  sworn  to  "take  care  that  the  laws  be 
faithfully  executed,"  should  not  himself  violate  them.  Of  course,  some 
consideration  was  given  to  the  question  of  power  and  propriety  before 
this  matter  was  acted  upon.  The  whole  of  the  laws  which  were  required 
to  be  faithfully  executed  were  being  resisted,  and  failing  of  execution  in 
nearly  one-third  of  the  States.  Must  they  be  allowed  to  finally  fail  of 
execution,  even  had  it  been  perfectly  clear  that  by  the  use  of  the  means 
necessary  to  their  execution  some  single  law,  made  in  such  extreme 
tenderness  of  the  citizen's  liberty  that  practically  it  relieves  more  of  the 
guilty  than  of  the  innocent,  should  to  a  very  limited  extent  be  violated ! 
To  state  the  question  more  directly :  Are  all  the  laws  but  one  to  go  unex- 


192  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

ecuted,  and  the  Government  itself  go  to  pieces,  lest  that  one  be  violated ! 
Even  in  snch  a  case,  would  not  the  official  oath  be  broken  if  the  Gov- 
ernment should  be  overthrown,  when  it  was  believed  that  disregarding 
the  single  law  would  tend  to  preserve  it?  But  it  was  not  believed  that 
this  question  was  presented.  It  was  not  believed  that  any  law  wai 
violated.  The  provision  of  the  Constitution  that  "  the  privilege  of  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended  unless  when,  in  cases  of 
rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require  it,"  is  equivalent  to 
a  provision — is  a  provision — that  such  privilege  may  be  suspended  when, 
in  ca.se  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  does  require  it.  It  was 
decided  that  we  have  a  case  of  rebellion,  and  that  the  public  safety  does 
require  the  qualified  suspension  of  the  privilege  of  the  writ  which  was 
authorized  to  be  made.  Now,  it  is  insisted  that  Congress,  and  not  tho 
Executive,  is  vested  with  this  power.  But  the  Constitution  itself  is  silent 
as  to  which  or  who  is  to  exercise  the  power ;  and  as  the  provision  was 
plainly  made  for  a  dangerous  emergency,  it  cannot  be  believed  the 
framers  of  the  instrument  intended  that  in  every  case  the  danger  should 
mn  its  course  uutil  Congress  could  be  called  together,  the  very  assembling 
of  which  might  be  prevented,  as  was  intended  in  this  case,  by  the  re- 
bellion. # 

No  more  extended  argument  is  now  offered,  as  an  opinion,  at  some 
length,  will  probably  be  presented  by  the  Attorney-General.  Whether 
there  shall  be  any  legislation  on  the  subject,  and,  if  any,  what,  is  sub- 
mitted entirely  to  the  better  judgment  of  Congress. 

The  forbearance  of  this  Government  had  been  so  extraordinary,  and  so 
long  continued,  as  to  lead  some  foreign  nations  to  shape  their  action 
as  if  they  supposed  the  early  destruction  of  our  National  Union  was 
probable.  While  this,  on  discovery,  gave  the  Executive  some  concern, 
he  is  now  happy  to  say  that  the  sovereignty  and  rights  of  the  United 
States  are  now  everywhere  practically  respected  by  foreign  powers ;  and 
a  general  sympathy  with  the  country  is  manifested  throughout  th« 
world. 

The  reports  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury,  War,  and  the  Navy, 
will  give  the  information  in  detail  deemed  nec^sary  and  convenient  for 
your  deliberation  and  action;  while  the  Executive  and  all  the  Depart- 
ments will  stand  ready  to  supply  omissions,  or  to  communicate  new  facts 
considered  important  for  you  to  know. 

It  is  now  recommended  that  you  giv6  the  legal  means  for  making  this 
contest  a  short  and  decisive  one ;  that  you  p'ac^  at  tho  control  of  the 
Government,  for  the  work,  at  least  f:>ur  hundred  thousand  men  and 
$400,000,000.  That  number  of  men  is  about  one-tenth  of  those  of  proper 
ages  within  the  regions  where,  apparently,  all  are  willing  to  engage ;  and 
the  sum  is  less  than  a  twenty-third  part  of  the  money  value  owned  by 
the  men  who  seem  ready  to  devote  the  whole.  A  debt  of  $600,000,000 
now,  is  a  less  sura  per  head  than  was  the  debt  of  our  Revolution  when 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  193 

we  camo  out  of  that  struggle;  and  the  money  value  in  the  country  now 
bears  even  a  greater  proportion  to  what  it  was  then,  than  does  the  popu- 
lation. Surely  each  man  has  as  strong  a  motive  now  to  preserve  our 
liberties,  as  each  had  then  to  establish  them.  • 

A  right  result,  at  this  time,  will  be  worth  more  to  the  world  than  ten 
times  the  men  and  ten  times  the  money.  The  evidence  reaching  us  from 
the  country  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  material  for  the  work  is  abundant, 
and  that  it  needs  only  the  hand  of  legislation  to  give  it  legal  sanction, 
and  the  hand  of  the  Executive  to  give  it  practical  shape  and  efficiency 
One  of  the  greatest  perplexities  of  the  Government  is  to  avoid  receiving 
troops  faster  than  it  can  provide  for  them.  In  a  word,  the  people  wit 
save  their  Government,  if  the  Government  itself  will  do  its  part  only 
indifferently  well. 

It  might  seem,  at  first  thought,  to  be  of  little  difference  whether  thb 
present  movement  at  the  South  be  called  "secession"  or  " rebellion. "' 
The  movers,  however,  will  understand  the  difference.  At  the  beginning, 
they  knew  they  could  never  raise  their,  treason  to  any  respectable 
magnitude  by  any  name  which  implies  violation  of  law.  They  knew 
their  people  possessed  as  much  of  moral  sense,  as  much  of  devotion  to 
law  and  order,  and  as  much  pride  in,  and  reverence  for  the  history  and 
Government  of  their  common  country,  as  any  other  civilized  and  patri- 
otic people.  They  knew  they  could  make  no  advancement  directly  in  the 
fc-s-eth  of  these  strong  and  noble  sentiments.  Accordingly,  they  com- 
menced by  an  insidious  debauching  of  the  public  mind.  They  invented 
an  ingenious  sophism,  which,  if  conceded,  was  followed  by  perfectly 
logical  steps,  through  all  the  incidents,  to  the  complete  destruction  of 
the  Union.  The  sophism  itself  is,  that  any  State  of  the  Union  may, 
consistently  with  the  National  Constitution,  and  therefore  lawfully  and 
peacefully,  withdraw  from  the  Union  without  the  consent  of  the  Union, 
or  of  any  other  State.  The  little  disguise  that  the  supposed  right  is  to 
be  exercised  only  for  just  cause,  themselves  to  be  the  sole  judges  of  ita 
justice,  is  too  thin  to  merit  any  notice. 

With  rebellion  thus  sugar-coated  they  have  been  drugging  the  public 
mind  of  their  section  for  more  than  thirty  years,  and  until  at  length  they 
have  brought  many  good  men  to  a  willingness  to  take  up  arms  against 
the  Government  the  day  after  some  assemblage  of  men  have  enacted  the 
farcical  pretence  of  taking  their  State  out  of  the  Union,  who  could  have 
been  brought  to  no  such  thing  the  day  before. 

This  sophism  derives  much,  perhaps  the  whole,  of  itj  currency  from 
the  assumption  that  there  is  some  omnipotent  and  sacred  supremacy 
pertaining  to  a  State — to  each  State  of  our  Federal  Union.  Our  States 
have  neither  more  nor  less  power  than  that  reserved  to  them  in  the 
Union  by  the  Constitution — no  one  of  them  ever  having  been  a  State  out 
tf  the  Union.  The  original  ones  passed  into  the  Union  even  before  they 
sa*t  off  their  British  colonial  dependence ;  and  the  new  ones  each  cain« 
13 


194  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

Into  the  Union  directly  from  a  condition  of  dependence,  excepting  Texae 
And  even  Texas,  in  its  temporary  independence,  was  never  designated  a 
State.  The  new  ones  only  took  the  designation  of  States  on  coming  intc 
the  Union,  while  that  name  was  first  adopted  by  the  old  ones  in  and  by 
tne  Declaration  of  Independence.  Therein  the  "United  Colonies"  were 
declared  to  be  "free  and  independent  States;"  but,  even  then,  the  ob- 
ject plainly  was  not  to  declare  their  independence  of  one  another,  or  of 
the  Union,  but  directly  the  contrary;  as  their  mutual  pledge  and  their 
mutual  action  before,  at  the  time,  and  afterwards,  abundantly  show.  The 
express  plighting  of  faith  by  each  and  all  of  the  original  thirteen  iiu  th* 
(Articles  of  Confederation,  two  years  later,  that  the  Union  shall  be  per- 
petual, is  most  conclusive.  Having  never  been  States,  either  in  substance 
or  in  name,  outside  of  the  Union,  whence  this  magical  omnipotence  of 
"State  Rights,"  asserting  a  claim  of  power  to  lawfully  destroy  the  Union 
itself?  Much  is  said  about  the  "sovereignty"  of  the  States;  but  the 
word  even  is  not  in  the  National  Constitution ;  nor,  as  is  believed,  in  any 
of  the  State  constitutions.  What  is  "sovereignty"  in  the  political  sense 
of  the  term  ?  "Would  it  be  far  wrong  to  define  it  "  a  political  community 
without  a  political  superior?"  Tested  by  this,  no  one  of  our  States,  ex- 
cept Texas,  ever  was  a  sovereignty.  And  even  Texas  gave  up  the  char- 
acter on  coining  into  the  Union ;  by  which  act  she  acknowledged  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  laws  and  treaties  of  the  United 
8tat<*  made  in  pursuance  of  the  Constitution,  to  be  for  her  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land.  The  States  have  their  status  in  the  Union,  and  they 
have  no  other  legal  status.  If  they  break  from  this,  they  can  only  do  so 
against  law  and  by  revolution.  The  Union,  and  not  themselves  sepa- 
rately, pra  i  ^d  their  independence  and  their  liberty.  By  conquest  01 
purchase  tl;v  Union  gave  each  of  them  whatever  of  independence  or 
liberty  it  has,  The  Union  is  older  than  any  of  the  States,  and,  in  fact,  it 
created  them  as  States.  Originally  some  dependent  colonies  made  the 
Union,  and,  in  turn,  the  Union  threw  off  their  old  dependence  for  them, 
and  made  them  States,  such  as  they  are.  Not  one  of  them  ever  had  a 
State  constitution  independent  of  the  Union.  Of  course,  it  is  not  for- 
gotten that  all  the  new  States  framed  their  constitutions  before  they  en- 
tered the  Union ;  nevertheless  dependent  upon,  and  preparatory  to,  com- 
ing into  the  Union. 

Un questionably  the  States  have  the  powers  and  rights  reserved  to  them 
in  and  by  the  National  Constitution ;  but  among  these,  surely,  are  not 
included  all  conceivable  powers,  however  mischievous  or  destructive; 
but,  at  most,  such  only  as  were  known  in  the  world,  at  fhe  time,  as  gov- 
ernmental powers;  and,  certainly,  a  power  to  destroy  t>e  Government 
itself  had  never  been  known  as  a  governmental — as  a  merely  administra- 
tive power.  This  relative  matter  of  National  power  and  fetate  liighta, 
as  a  principle,  is  nr>  other  than  the  principle  of  generality  a»u  locality 
Whatever  oouoerns  tne  wnole  should  he  confided  to  tne  wnoia  -to  the 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  195 

General  Government;  while  whatever  concerns  only  the  State  should  ho 
left  exclusively  to  the  State.  This  is  all  there  is  of  original  principle 
about  it.  Whether  the  National  Constitution,  in  defining  boundaries  be- 
tween the  two  has  applied  the  principle  with  exact  accuracy,  is  not  to  hi 
questioned.     We  are  all  bound  by  that  defining,  without  question. 

What  is  now  combated,  is  the  position  that  secession  is  consistent  with 
the  Constitution — is  lawful  and  peaceful.  It  is  not  contended  that  thor« 
is  any  express  law  for  it;  and  nothing  should  ever  be  implied  gf  law  which 
leads  to  unjust  or  absurd  consequences.  The  Nation  purchased  with  money 
the  countries  out  of  which  several  of  these  States  were  formed;  is  it  just 
tat  they  shall  go  off  without  leave  and  without  refunding?  The  Nation 
]  aid  very  large  sums  (in  the  aggregate,  I  believe,  nearly  a  hundred  mil- 
lions) to  relieve  Florida  of  the  aboriginal  tribes;  is  it  just  that  she  shall 
now  be  off  without  conseut,  or  without  making  any  return?  The  Nation 
is  now  in  debt  for  money  applied  to  the  benefit  of  these  so-called  seceding 
States  in  common  with  the  rest;  is  it  just  either  that  creditors  shall  go 
unpaid,  or  the  remaining  States  pay  the  whole?  A  part  of  the  present 
National  debt  was  contracted  to  pay  the  old  debts  of  Texas;  is  it  just  that 
she  shall  leave  and  pay  no  part  of  this  herself? 

Again,  if  one  State  may  secede,  so  may  another ;  and  when  all  shall 
have  seceded,  none  is  left  to  pay  the  debts.  Is  this  quite  just  to  creditors! 
Did  we  notify  them  of  this  sage  view  of  ours  when  we  borrowed  their 
money?  If  we  now  recognize  this  doctrine  by  allowing  the  seceders  to 
go  in  peace,  it  is  difficult  to  see  what  we  can  do  if  others  choose  to  go,  or 
to  extort  terms  upon  which  they  will  promise  to  remain. 

The  seceders  insist  that  our  Constitution  admits  of  secession.  They  have 
assumed  to  make  a  national  constitution  of  their  own,  in  which,  of  neces- 
sity, they  have  either  discarded  or  retained  the  right  of  secession,  as  they 
insist  it  exists  in  ours.  If  they  have  discarded  it,  they  thereby  admit 
that,  on  principle,  it  ought  not  to  be  in  ours.  If  they  have  retained  it, 
by  their  own  construction  of  ours,  they  show  that  to  be  consistent  they 
must  secede  from  one  another  whenever  they  shall  find  it  the  easiest  way 
of  settling  their  debts,  or  effecting  any  other  selfish  or  unjust  object.    Tho 

principle  itself  is  one  of  disintegration,  and  upon  which  no  Government 

,» an  possibly  endure. 

'  Lf  all  the  States  save  one  should  assert  the  power  to  drive  that  one  out 
of  the  Union,  it  is  presumed  the  whole  class  of  seceder  politicians  would 
at  once  deny  the  power,  and  denounce  the  act  as  the  greatest  outrage 
upon  State  rights.  But  suppose  that  precisely  the  same  act,  instead  of 
being  called  M  driving  the  one  out,"  should  be  called  "  the  seceding  of  the 
others  from  that  one,"  it  would  be  exactly  what  the  seceders  claim  to  do  ; 
unless,  indeed,  they  make  the  point  that  the  one,  because  it  is  a  minority, 
may  rightfully  do  what  the  others,  because  they  are  a  majority,  may  not 
rightfully  do.  These  politicians  are  subtile  and  profound  on  the  rights  of 
minorities.  They  are  not  partial  to  that  power  which  made  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  speaks  from  the  preamble,  calling  itself  "  We,  the  People." 


19 C  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

It  may  well  be  questioned  whether  there  is  to-day  a  majority  of  the 
legally  qualified  voters  of  any  State,  except,  perhaps,  South  Carolina,  in 
favor  of  disunion.  There  is  much  reason  to  believe  that  the  Union  men 
are  the  majority  in  many,  if  not  in  every  other  one,  of  the  so-called  sece- 
ded States.  The  contrary  has  not  been  demonstrated  in  any  one  of  them. 
It  is  ventured  to  affirm  this  even  of  Virginia  and  Tennessee ;  for  the  result 
of  an  election  held  in  military  camps,  where  the  bayonets  are  all  on  on* 
side  of  the  question  voted  upon,  can  scarcely  be  considered  as  demonstra- 
ting popular  sentiment.  At  such  an  election,  all  that  large  class  who  ar« 
at  once  for  the  Union  and  against  coercion  would  be  coerced  to  vote  against 
the  Union. 

Jt  may  be  affirmed,  without  extravagance,  that  the  free  institutions  w* 
enjoy  have  developed  the  powers  and  improved  the  condition  of  our  whole 
people  beyond  any  example  in  the  world.  Of  this  we  now  have  a  stri- 
king and  an  impressive  illustration.  So  large  an  army  as  the  Government 
has  now  on  foot  was  never  before  known  without  a  soldier  in  it  but  who 
had  taken  his  place  there  of  his  own  free  choice.  But  more  than  this : 
there  are  many  single  regiments  whose  members,  one  and  another,  possess 
full  practical  knowledge  of  all  the  arts,  sciences,  professions,  and  what- 
ever else,  whether  useful  or  elegant,  is  known  in  the  world ;  and  there  is 
scarcely  one  from  which  there  could  not  be  selected  a  President,  a  Cabi- 
net, a  Congress,  and  perhaps  a  court,  abundantly  competent  to  administer 
the  Government  itself.  Nor  do  I  say  this  is  not  true  also  in  the  army  of 
our  late  friends,  now  adversaries  in  this  contest;  but  if  it  is,  so  much 
better  the  reason  why  the  Government  which  has  conferred  such  benefits 
on  both  them  and  us  should  not  be  broken  up.  Whoever,  in  any  section, 
proposes  to  abandon  such  a  Government,  would  do  well  to  consider  in 
deference  to  what  principle  it  is  that  he  does  it ;  what  better  he  is  likely  to 
get  in  its  stead ;  whether  the  substitute  will  give,  or  be  intended  to  give 
so  much  of  good  to  the  people  ?  There  are  some  for eshado wings  on  thig 
subject.  Our  adversaries  have  adopted  some  declarations  of  independence^ 
in  which,  unlike  the  good  old  one,  penned  by  Jefferson,  they  omit  the 
words,  "all  men  are  created  equal."  Why?  They  have  adopted  a  tem- 
porary national  constitution,  in  the  preamble  of  which,  unlike  our  goo' 
old  one,  signed  by  Washington,  they  omit  "  We,  the  People,"  and  an  * 
atitute,  "We,  the  deputies  of  the  sovereign  and  independent  States. 
Why?  Why  this  deliberate  pressing  out  of  view  the  rights  of  men  anc 
the  authority  of  the  people? 

This  is  essentially  a  people's  contest.  On  the  side  of  the  Union  it  is  & 
struggle  for  maintaining  in  the  world  that  form  and  substance  of  Govern- 
ment whose  leading  object  is  to  elevate  the  condition  of  men;  to  lift  arti- 
ficial weights  from  all  shoulders ;  to  clear  the  paths  of  laudable  pursuit* 
for  all ;  to  afford  all  an  unfettered  start  and  a  fair  chance  in  the  race  of 
life.  Yielding  to  partial  and  temporary  departures,  from  necessity,  this  is 
the  leading  object  of  the  Government  for  whose  existence  we  contend. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  197 

lam  most  happy  to  believe  that  the  plain  people  understand  and  appre- 
ciate this.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  while  in  this  the  Government's  hour 
of  trial,  large  numbers  of  those  in  the  army  and  navy  who  have  been 
favored  with  the  offices  have  resigned  and  proved  false  to  the  hand  which 
had  pampered  them,  not  one  common  soldier  or  common  sailor  is  knowu 
to  have  deserted  his  flag. 

Great  honor  is  due  to  those  officers  who  remained  true,  despite  the  ex- 
ample of  their  treacherous  associates  ;  but  the  greatest  honor,  and  most 
important  fact  of  all,  is  the  unanimous  firmness  of  the  common  soldiers 
and  common  sailors.  To  the  last  man,  so  far  as  known,  they  have  suc- 
cessfully resisted  the  traitorous  efforts  of  those  whose  commands  but  an 
hour  before  they  obeyed  as  absolute  law.  This  is  the  patriotic  instinct  of 
plain  people.  They  understand,  without  an  argument,  that  the  destroy- 
ing the  Government  which  was  made  by  Washington  means  no  good  to 
them. 

Our  popular  Government  has  often  been  called  an  experiment.  Two 
points  in  it  our  people  have  already  settled — the  successful  establishing 
and  the  successful  administering  of  it.  One  still  remains — its  successful 
maintenance  against  a  formidable  internal  attempt  to  overthrow  it.  It  is 
now  for  them  to  demonstrate  to  the  world  that  those  who  can  fairly  carry 
an  election  can  also  suppress  a  rebellion;  that  ballots  are  the  rightful  aud 
peaceful  successors  of  bullets;  and  that  when  ballots  have  fairly  and  con- 
stitutionally decided,  there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  back  to  bullets  • 
that  there  can  be  no  successful  appeal,  except  to  ballots  themselves,  at 
succeeding  elections.  Such  will  be  a  great  lesson  of  peace ;  teaching  men 
that  what  they  cannot  take  by  an  election,  neither  can  they  take  by  a 
war ;  teaching  all  the  folly  of  being  the  beginners  of  a  war. 

Lest  there  be  some  uneasiness  in  the  minds  of  candid  men  as  to  what 
is  to  be  the  course  of  the  Government  towards  the  Southern  States  after 
the  rebellion  shall  have  been  suppressed,  the  Executive  deems  it  propor 
to  say,  it  will  be  his  purpose  then,  as  ever,  to  be  guided  by  the  Cons'ftu- 
tion  and  the  laws ;  and  that  he  probably  will  have  no  different  under' 
standing  of  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Federal  Government  relatively 
to  the  rights  of  the  States  and  the  people  under  the  Constitution  than  that 
expressed  in  the  Inaugural  Address. 

He  desires  to  preserve  the  Government,  that  it  may  be  administered  foi 
all,  as  it  was  administered  by  the  men  who  made  it.  Loyal  citizens  every- 
where have  the  right  to  claim  this  of  their  Government,,  and  the  Govern- 
ment has  no  right  to  withhold  or  neglect  it.  It  is  not  perceived  that  in 
giving  it  there  is  any  coercion,  any  conquest,  or  any  subjugation,  in  any 
just  sense  of  those  terms. 

The  Constitution  provides,  and  all  the  States  have  accepted  the  provi- 
sion, that  "  the  United  Stat-es  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  Uniou 
a  republican  form  of  Government."  But  if  a  State  may  lawfully  go  out 
pf  the  Ubpb,  having  done  so.  it  niay  also  discard  the  republican  foraj  of 


198  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and. 

Government ;  so  that  to  prevent  its  going  out  is  an  indispensable  meant 
to  the  end  of  maintaining  the  guarantee  mentioned ;  and  when  an  end  is 
lawful  and  obligatory,  the  indispensable  means  to  it  are  also  lawful  and 
obligatory. 

It  was  with  the  deepest  regret  that  the  Executive  found  the  duty  of  em- 
ploying the  war  power  in  defence  of  the  Government  forced  upon  him 
He  could  but  perform  this  duty  or  surrender  the  existence  of  the  Govern 
ment.  No  compromise  by  public  servants  could  in  this  case  ^e  a  cim-  j 
not  that  compromises  are  not  often  proper,  but  that  no  popuiar  Govern  ! 
ment  can  long  survive  a  marked  precedent  that  those  who  carry  an  elec- 
tion can  only  save  the  Government  from  immediate  destruction  by  giving 
up  the  main  point  upon  which  the  people  gave  the  election.  The  people 
themselves,  and  not  their  servants,  can  safely  reverse  their  own  deliberate 
decisions. 

As  a  private  citizen  the  Executive  could  not  have  consented  that  these 
institutions  shall  perish;  much  less  could  he,  in  betrayal  of  so  vast  and  no 
sacred  a  trust  as  these  free  people  have  confided  to  him.  He  felt  that  he 
had  no  moral  right  to  shrink,  or  even  to  count  the  chances  of  his  own  life, 
in  what  might  follow.  In  full  view  of  his  great  responsibility  he  has  so 
far  done  what  he  has  deemed  his  duty.  You  will  now,  according  to  your 
own  judgment,  perform  yours.  He  sincerely  hopes  that  your  views  and 
your  action  may  so  accord  with  his  as  to  assure  all  faithful  oitizens  who 
have  been  disturbed  in  their  rights  of  a  certain  and  speedy  restoration  to 
them,  under  the  Constitution  and  the  laws. 

And  having  thus  chosen  our  course,  without  guile  and  with  pure  pur- 
pose,  let  us  renew  our  trust  in  God,  and  go  forward  without  fear  and  with 
manly  hearts. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 

July  4,  1861. 

Congress  imitated  the  President  in  confining  its  attention 
exclusively  to  the  rebellion  and  the  means  for  its  suppres- ! 
si  on.  Th(*#ealous  and  enthusiastic  loyalty  of  the  people 
met  a  prompt  response  from  their  representatives.  The 
Judiciary  Committee  in  the  House  was  instructed  on  the  8th 
to  prepare  a  "bill  to  confiscate  the  property  of  rebels  against 
the  Government ;  and  on  the  9th,  a  resolution  was  adopted 
(ayes  ninety-eight,  noes  fifty-five),  declaring  it  to  be 
"  no  part  of  the  duty  of  the  soldiers  of  the  United  States 
to  capture  and  return  fugitive  slaves."  A  bill  was 
promptly  introduced  to  declare  valid  all  the  acts  of  the 
President  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  previous 
to  the  meeting  of  Congress,  and  it  brought  on  a  general 
discussion  of  the  principles  involved  and  the  interests 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  199 

concerned  in  the  contest.  There  were  a  few  in  both 
Houses,  with  John  C.  Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky,  at  their 
head,  who  still  insisted  that  any  resort  by  the  Govern- 
ment to  the  use  of  the  war  power  against  the  rebels  was 
unconstitutional,  and  could  only  end  in  the  destruction 
of  the  Union  ;  but  the  general  sentiment  of  both  Houses 
fully  sustained  the  President  in  the  steps  he  had  taken. 
The  subject  of  slavery  was  introduced  into  the  discussion 
commenced  by  Senator  Powell,  of  Kentucky,  who  pro- 
posed on  the  18th  to  amend  the  Army  Bill  by  adding  a 
section  that  no  part  of  the  army  should  be  employed  "  in 
subjecting  or  holding  as  a  conquered  province  any  sov- 
ereign State  now  or  lately  one  of  the  United  States,  or 
in  abolishing  or  interfering  with  African  slavery  in  any  of 
the  States."  The  debate  which  ensued  elicited  the  senti 
ments  of  members  on  this  subject.  Mr.  Sherman,  of  Ohio, 
concurred  in  the  sentiment  that  the  war  was  "  not  to  be 
waged  for  the  purpose  of  subjugating  any  State  or  freeing 
any  slave,  or  to  interfere  with  the  social  or  domestic  insti- 
tutions  of  any  State  or  any  people;  it  was  to  preserve 
this  Union,  to  maintain  the  Constitution  as  it  is  in  all  its 
clauses,  in  all  its  guarantees,  without  change  or  limita- 
tion." Mr.  Dixon,  of  Connecticut,  assented  to  this,  but 
also  declared  that  if  the  South  should  protract  the  war, 
and  "it  should  turn  out  that  either  this  Government  or 
slavery  must  be  destroyed,  then  the  people  of  the  North 
— the  Conservative  people  of  the  North — would  say, 
rather  than  let  the  Government  perish,  let  slavery  perish." 
Mr.  Lane,  of  Kansas,  did  not  believe  that  slavery  could 
urvive  in  any  State  the  march  of  the  Union  armies. 
These  seemed  to  be  the  sentiments  of  both  branches  of 
Congress.  The  amendment  was  rejected,  and  bills  were 
passed  ratifying  the  acts  of  the  President,  authorizing 
him  to  accept  the  services  of  half  a  million  of  volunteers, 
and  placing  live  hundred  millions  of  dollars  at  the  dispo- 
sal of  the  Government  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 

On  the  15th  of  July,  Mr.  McClernand,  a  democrat  from 
Illinois,  offered  a  resolution  pledging  the  House  to  vote 
any  amount  of  money  and  any  number  of  men  necessary 


200  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

to  suppress  the  rebellion,  and  restore  the  authority  of  the 
Government,  which  was  adopted,  with  but  five  opposing 
votes ;  and  on  the  22d  of  July,  Mr.  Crittenden,  of  Ken- 
tucky, offered  the  following  resolution,  defining  the  objects 
of  the  war : — 

Resolved  by  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  That  the  present  deplorable  civil  war  has  been  forced  upon  the 
country  by  the  disunionists  of  the  Southern  States,  now  in  arms  against 
the  Constitutional  Government,  and  in  arms  around  the  Capital;  that  in 
this  national  emergency,  Congress,  banishing  all  feelings  of  mere  passioi? 
or  resentment,  will  recollect  only  its  duty  to  the  whole  country ;  that  this 
war  is  not  waged  on  their  part  in  any  spirit  of  oppression,  or  for  any  pur- 
pose of  conquest  or  subjugation,  or  purpose  of  overthrowing  or  interfering 
with  the  rights  or  established  institutions  of  those  States,  but  to  defend 
and  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  and  to  preserve  the 
Union  with  all  the  dignity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  several  States  un- 
impaired; and  that  as  soon  as  these  objects  are  accomplished  the  war 
ought  to  cease. 

This  resolution  was  adopted,  with  but  two  dissenting 
votes.  It  was  accepted  by  the  whole  country  as  defining 
the  objects  and  limiting  the  continuance  of  the  war,  and 
was  regarded  with  special  favor  by  the  loyal  citizens  of 
the  Border  States,  whose  sensitiveness  on  the  subject  of 
slavery  had  been  skilfully  and  zealously  played  upon  by 
the  agents  and  allies  of  the  rebel  confederacy.  The  war 
was  universally  represented  by  these  men  as  waged  for 
the  destruction  of  slavery,  and  as  aiming,  not  at  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Union,  but  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves ; 
and  there  was  great  danger  that  these  appeals  to  the  pride, 
the  interest,  and  the  prejudices  of  the  Border  Slave  States  i 
might  bring  them  to  join  their  fortunes  to  those  of  tht\ 
rebellion.  The  passage  of  this  resolution,  with  so  great  a 
degree  of  unanimity,  had  a  very  soothing  effect  upon  the 
apprehensions  of  these  States,  and  contributed  largely  to 
strengthen  the  Government  in  its  contest  with  the  rebellion. 

The  sentiments  of  Congress  on  this  matter,  as  well  as  on 
the  general  subject  of  the  war,  were  still  further  developed 
In  the  debates  which  followed  the  introduction  to  the  House 
of  a  bill  passed  by  the  Senate  to  "  confiscate  property 
used  for  insurrectionary  purposes/ *     It  was  referred  to 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  201 

the  Judiciary  Committee,  and  reported  "back  with  an  amend- 
ment, providing  that  whenever  any  slave  should  be 
required  or  permitted  by  his  master  to  take  up  arms,  or 
be  employed  in  any  fort,  dock-yard,  or  in  any  military 
service  in  aid  of  the  rebeHion,  he  should  become  entitled 
to  his  freedom.  Mr.  Wickliffe  and  Mr.  Burnett,  of  Ken- 
tucky, at  once  contested  the  passage  of  the  bill,  on  the 
ground  that  the  Government  had  no  right  to  interfere  in 
any  way  with  the  relation  existing  between  a  master  and 
nis  slave ;  and  they  were  answered  by  the  Northern  mem- 
bers with  the  argument  that  the  Government  certainly 
had  a  right  to  confiscate  property  of  any  kind  employed 
in  the  rebellion,  and  that  there  was  no  more  reason  for 
protecting  slavery  against  the  consequences  of  exercising 
this  right,  than  for  shielding  any  other  interest  that  might 
be  thus  involved.  The  advocates  of  the  bill  denied  that 
it  was  the  intention  of  the  law  to  emancipate  the  slaves, 
or  that  it  would  bear  any  such  construction  in  the  courts 
of  justice.  They  repudiated  the  idea  that  men  in  arms 
against  the  Union  and  Constitution  could  claim  the  pro 
tection  of  the  Constitution,  and  thus  derive  from  that 
instrument  increased  ability  to  secure  its  destruction  ;  but 
they  based  their  proposed  confiscation  of  slave  property 
solely  on  the  ground  that  it  was  a  necessary  means  to  the 
prosecution  of  the  war,  and  rot  in  any  sense  the  object 
for  which  the  war  was  waged  After  a  protracted  debate, 
•  at  section  of  the  bill  which  related  to  this  subject  was 
passed— ayes  sixty,  noes  forty-eight — in  the  following 
form  • — 

Tha'j  whenever,  hereafter,  during  the  present  insurrection  against  th« 
Government  of  the  United  States,  any  person  claimed  to  be  held  to  labor 
or  service  under  the  laws  of  any  State,  shall  be  required  or  permitted  by 
the  person  to  whom  such  labor  or  service  is  claimed  to  be  due,  or  by  the 
lawful  agent  of  such  person,  to  take  up  arms  against  the  United  States* 
or  shall  be  required  or  permitted  by  the  person  to  whom  such  service  01 
labor  is  claimed  to  be  due,  or  his  lawful  agent,  to  work  or  to  be  employed 
in  or  upon  any  fort,  navy-yard,  dock,  armory,  ship,  or  intrenchment,  or 
iu  any  military  or  naval  service  whatever,  against  the  Government  and 
lawful  authority  of  the  United  States,  then,  and  in  every  such  case,  th# 
person  to  whom  such  service  is  claimed  to  be  due,  shall  forfeit  his  claim 


202  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

to  such  labor,  any  law  of  the  State,  or  of  the  United  States,  to  the  con* 
trary  notwithstanding;  and  whenever  thereafter  the  person  claiming  such 
(abor  or  service  shall  seek  to  enforce  his  claim,  it  shall  be  a  full  and  suffi- 
cient answer  to  such  claim  that  the  person  whose  service  or  labor  is 
claimed,  had  been  employed  in  hostile  service  against  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

Congress  closed  its  extra  session  on  the  6th  of  Augns; 
It  had  taken  the  most  vigorous  and  effective  measures  i'o 
the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  having  clothed  the  Pres 
ident  with  even  greater  power  than  he  had  asked  for  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  avoided  with  just  fidelty 
all  points  which  could  divide  and  weaken  the  loyal  sen- 
timent of  the  country.  The  people  responded  with  hearty 
applause  to  the  patriotic  action  of  their  representatives. 
The  universal  temper  of  the  country  was  one  of  buoyancy 
and  hope.  Throughout  the  early  part  of  the  summer  the 
rebels  had  been  steadily  pushing  troops  through  Virginia 
to  the  borders  of  the  Potomac,  menacing  the  National  Cap- 
ital with  capture,  until  in  the  latter  part  of  June  they  had 
an  army  of  not  far  from  thirty-five  thousand  men,  holding 
a  strong  position  along  the  Bull  Run  Creek — its  left  posted 
at  Winchester,  and  its  right  resting  at  Manassas.  It  was 
determined  to  attack  this  force  and  drive  it  from  the  vicin- 
ity of  Washington,  and  the  general  belief  of  the  country 
was  that  this  would  substantially  end  the  war.  The 
National  army,  numbering  about  thirty  thousand  men, 
moved  from  the  Potomac,  on  the  16th  of  July,  under 
General  McDowell,  and  the  main  attack  was  made  on  the 
21st.  It  resulted  in  the  defeat,  with  a  loss  of  four  hundred 
and  eighty  killed  and  one  thousand  wounded,  of  our 
forces,  and  their  falling  back,  in  the  utmost  disorder  and 
confusion,  upon  Washington.  Our  army  was  completely 
routed,  and  if  the  rebel  forces  had  known  the  extent  of 
their  success,  and  had  been  in  condition  to  avail  them 
selves  of  it  with  vigor  and  energy,  the  Capital  would 
easily  have  fallen  into  their  hands. 

The  result  of  this  battle  took  the  whole  country  by  sur- 
prise. The  most  sanguine  expectations  of  a  prompt  and 
decisive  victory  had  been  universally  entertained ;  and 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  203 

die  actual  issue  first  revealed  to  the  people  the  prospect 
of  a  long  and  bloody  war.  But  the  public  heart  was  not 
in  the  least  discouraged.  On  the  contrary,  the  effect  was 
to  rouse  still  higher  the  courage  and  determination  of  the 
people.  ISTo  one  dreamed  for  an  instant  of  submission. 
The  most  vigorous  efforts  were  made  to  reorganize  the 
army,  to  increase  its  numbers  by  volunteering,  and  to 
establish  a  footing  for  National  troops  at  various  points 
along  the  rebel  coast.  On  the  28th  of  August  Fort  Hat- 
teras  was  surrendered  to  the  National  forces,  and  on  the 
81st  of  October  Port  Royal,  on  the  coast  of  South  Caro- 
lina, fell  into  possession  of  the  United  States.  On  the  3d 
of  December  Ship  Island,  lying  between  Mobile  and  New 
Orleans,  was  occupied.  Preparations  were  also  made  for 
an  expedition  against  New  Orleans,  and  by  a  series  of 
combined  movements  the  rebel"  forces  were  driven  out  of 
Western  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri  —  States  in 
which  the  population  had  from  the  beginning  of  the  con- 
test been  divided  in  sentiment  and  action. 

On  the  31st  of  October  General  Scott,  finding  himself 
unable,  in  consequence  of  illness  and  advancing  age,  to 
take  the  field  or  discharge  the  duties  imposed  by  the 
enlarging  contest,  resigned  his  position  as  commander  of 
the  army,  in  the  following  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War : — 

Head-Quarters  of  the  Army,     I 
Washington,  October  81,  !86L  f 

The  Hon.  S.  Oameeon,  Secretary  of  War : — 

Sir: — For  more  than  three  years  I  have  been  nnable,  from  a  hurt,  v-i 
mount  a  horse,  or  to  walk  more  than  a  few  paces  at  a  time,  and  that  with 
mach  pain.  Other  and  new  infirmities — dropsy  and  vertigo — admonish 
me  tLat  repose  of  mind  and  body,  with  the  appliances  of  surgery  and 
medicine,  are  necessary  to  add  a  little  more  to  a  life  already  protracted 
mnch  beyond  the  usual  span  of  man. 

It  is  under  such  circumstances — made  doubly  painful  by  the  unnatural 
and  unjust  rebellion  now  raging  in  the  Southern  States  of  our  (so  late)  proa 
porous  and  happy  Union — that  I  am  compelled  to  request  that  my  name 
may  be  placed  on  the  list  of  array  officers  retired  from  active  service. 

As  this  request  is  founded  on  an  absolute  right,  granted  by  a  recent  act 
of  Congress,  I  am  entirely  at  liberty  to  say  it  is  with  deep  regret  that  I 
withdraw  myself,  in  these  momentous  times,  from  the  orders  of  a  Presi- 
dent who  has  treated  me  with  distinguished  kindness  and  courtesy,  whom 


201  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

[  know,  upon  much  personal  intercourse,  to  be  patriotic,  without  sectional 
oartialities  or  prejudices ;  to  be  highly  conscientious  in  the  performance 
of  every  duty,  and  of  unrivalled  activity  and  perseverance. 

And  to  you,  Mr.  Secretary,  whom  I  now  officially  address  for  the  last 
time,  I  beg  to  acknowledge  my  many  obligations,  for  the  uniform  high 
consideration  I  have  received  at  your  hands;  and  have  the  honor  to 
•emain,  sir,  with  high  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

WlNFIELD    SOOTT. 

President  Lincoln  waited  npon  General  Scott  at  his 
residence,  accompanied  by  his  Cabinet,  and  made  personal 
expression  to  him  of  the  deep  regret  which  he,  in  common 
with  the  whole  country,  felt  in  parting  with  a  public  ser- 
vant so  venerable  in  years  and  so  illustrious  for  the 
services  he  had  rendered.  He  also  issued  the  following 
order :  — 

On  the  first  day  of  November,  1861,  upon  his  own  application  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  Brevet  Lieutenant-General  Winfield  Scott 
is  ordered  to  be  placed,  and  hereby  is  placed,  upon  the  list  of  retired 
officers  of  the  army  of  the  United  States,  without  reduction  of  his  current 
pay,  subsistence,  or  allowances. 

The  American  people  will  hear  with  sadness  and  deep  emotion  that 
General  Scott  has  withdrawn  from  the  active  control  of  the  array,  while 
the  President  and  unanimous  Cabinet  express  their  own  and  the  Nation'* 
sympathy  in  his  personal  affliction,  and  their  profound  sense  of  the  im- 
portant public  services  rendered  by  him  to  his  country  during  his  lony 
and  brilliant  career,  among  which  will  ever  be  gratefully  distinguished  hid 
faithful  devotion  to  the  Constitution,  the  Union,  and  the  Flag,  when 
assailed  by  parricidal  rebellion.  Abkaham  Lincoln. 

The  command  of  the  army  then  devolved  by  appoint 
i.ent  upon  Major- General  McClellan,  who  had  been  re 
called  from  Western  Virginia  after  the  battle  of  Bull  Hun, 
and  had  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of  recruiting  the 
army  in  front  of  Washington,  and  preparing  it  for  the 
defence  of  the  Capital,  and  for  a  fresh  advance  upon  the 
forces  of  the  rebellion. 

It  cannot  have  escaped  attention  that  thus  far,  in  its 
policy  concerning  the  war,  the  Government  had  been  very 
greatly  influenced  by  a  desire  to  prevent  the  Border  Slave 
States  from  joining  the  rebel  confederacy.  Their  accession 
would  have  added  immensely  to  the  forces  of  the  rebel- 
lion, and  would  have  increased  very  greatly  the  labor  and 


State  Papers  of  Auk  ah  am  Llncoln.  205 

difficulty  of  its  suppression.  The  Administration  and 
Congress  had,  therefore,  avoided,  so  far  as  possible,  any 
measures  in  regard  to  slavery  which  could  needlessly  ex 
cite  the  hostile  prejudices  of  the  people  of  the  Border 
States.  The  Confiscation  Act  affected  only  those  slaves 
who  should  be  "  required  or  permitted"  by  their  masters 
to  render  service  to  the  rebel  cause.  It  did  not  in  any 
respect  change  the  condition  of  any  others.  The  Presi- 
dent, in  the  Executive  Department,  acted  upon  the  sam 
principle.  The  question  first  arose  in  Virginia,  simult, 
neously  at  Fortress  Monroe,  and  in  the  western  part  oi 
the  State.  On  the  26th  of  May,  General  McClellan  issued 
an  address  to  the  people  of  the  district  under  his  com  - 
mand,  in  which  he  said  to  them,  "  Understand  one  thing 
clearly:  not  only  will  we  abstain  from  all  interference 
with  your  slaves,  but  we  will,  on  the  contrary,  with  an 
iron  hand  crush  any  attempt  at  insurrection  on  their  part." 
On  the  27th  of  May,  General  Butler,  in  command  at 
Fortress  Monroe,  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War  that  he 
was  greatly  embarrassed  by  the  number  of  slaves  that 
were  coming  in  from  the  surrounding  country  and  seeking 
protection  within  the  lines  of  his  camp.  lie  had  deter- 
mined to  regard  them  as  contraband  of  war,  and  to  em- 
ploy their  labor  at  a  fair  compensation,  against  which 
should  be  charged  the  expense  of  their  support — tht> 
relative  value  to  be  adjusted  afterwards.  The  Secretary 
of  W  ar,  in  a  letter  dated  May  30th,  expressed  the  approval 
by  the  Government  of  the  course  adopted  by  Genera] 
Butler,  and  directed  him,  on  the  one  hand,  to  "permit 
nc  interference  by  the  persons  under  his  command  with 
the  relations  of  persons  held  to  service  under  the  laws  ol 
any  State,"  and  on  the  other,  to  "refrain  from  surren- 
dering to  alleged  masters  any  such  persons  who  might 
come  within  his  lines." 

On  the  8th  of  August,  after  the  passage  of  the  Confisca- 
tion Act  by  Congress,  the  Secretary  of  War  again  wrote 
to  General  Butler,  setting  forth  somewhat  more  fully  the 
views  of  the  President  and  the  Administration  upon  this 
subject,  as  follows  : — 


206  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

It  is  the  desire  of  the  President  that  all  existing  rights  in  aU  the  State* 
he  fully  respected  and  maintained.  The  war  now  prosecuted  on  the  part 
of  the  Federal  Government  is  a  war  for  the  Union,  and  fur  thy  preserva- 
tion of  all  constitutional  rig) its  of  States  and  the  citizens  of  the  States  in 
the  Union.  Hence  no  question  can  arise  as  to  fugitives  from  service  within 
the  States  and  Territories  in  which  the  authority  of  the  Union  is  fully 
acknowledged.  The  ordinary  forms  of  judicial  proceeding,  which  must 
be  respected  by  military  and  civil  authorities  alike,  will  suffice  for  the 
enforcement  of  all  legal  claims.  But  in  States  wholly  or  partially  under 
insurrectionary  control,  where  the  laws  of  the  United  States  are  so  far 
opposed  and  resisted  that  they  cannot  be  effectually  enforced,  it  is  obvi- 
ous that  rights  dependent  ou  the  execution  of  those  laws  must  temporarily 
fail ;  and  it  is  equally  obvious  that  rights  dependent  on  the  laws  of  the 
States  within  which  military  operations  are  conducted  must  be  necessarily 
subordinated  to  the  military  exigencies  created  by  the  insurrection,  if  not 
wholly  forfeited  by  the  treasonable  conduct  of  parties  claiming  them.  To 
this  general  rule  rights  to  services  can  form  no  exception. 

The  act  of  Congress  approved  August  6th,  1861,  declares  that  if  per- 
sons held  to  service  shall  be  employed  in  hostility  to  the  United  States, 
the  right  to  their  services  shall  be  forfeited,  and  such  persons  shall  be 
discharged  therefrom.  It  follows  of  necessity  that  no  claim  can  be  recog- 
nized by  the  military  authorities  of  the  Union  to  the  services  of  such  per 
sons  when  fugitives. 

A  more  difficult  question  is  presented  in  respect  to  persons  escaping 
from  the  service  of  loyal  masters.  It  is  quite  apparent  that  the  laws  of 
the  State,  under  which  only  the  services  of  such  fugitives  can  be  claimed, 
must  needs  be  wholly,  or  almost  wholly  suspended,  as  to  remedies,  by  the 
insurrection  and  the  military  measures  necessitated  by  it ;  and  it  is  equally 
apparent  that  the  substitution  of  military  for  judicial  measures,  for  the 
enforcement  of  such  claims,  must  be  attended  by  great  inconveniences, 
embarrassments,  and  injuries. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  seems  quite  clear  that  the  substantia! 
rights  of  loyal  masters  will  be  best  protected  by  receiving  such  fugitives, 
is  well  as  fugitives  from  disloyal  masters,  into  the  services  of  the  United 
';ites,  and  employing  them  under  such  organizations  and  in  such  occupa- 
■  =ns  as  circumstances  may  suggest  or  require.  Of  course  a  record  should 
be  kept,  showing  the  name  and  description  of  the  fugitives,  the  name  and 
the  character,  as  loyal  or  disloyal,  of  the  master,  and  such  facts  as  may 
be  necessary  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  circumstances  of  each  case, 
after  tranquillity  shall  have  been  restored  Upon  the  return  of  peace, 
Congress  will  doubtless  properly  provide  for  all  the  persons  thus  received 
into  the  service  of  the  Union,  and  for  just  compensation  to  loyal  masters. 
In  this  way  only,  it  would  seem,  can  the  duty  and  safety  of  the  Govern 
inent,  and  the  just  rights  of  all,  be  fully  reconciled  and  harmonized. 

You  will  therefore  consider  yourself  as  instructed  to  govern  your  future 
•action,  in  respect  to  fugitive-*  ice.  by  the  principles  herein  stated* 

''    \4 


State  Papers  jf  Abraham  Lincoln,  207 

ancV  .vili  »eport  from  time  to  time,  and  at  least  twice  in  each  month,  jour 
action  in  the  premises  to  this  Department.  Yon  will,  however,  neither 
authorize  nor  permit  any  interference,  by  the  troops  under  your  command, 
with  the  servants  of  peaceful  citizens,  in  house  or  field,  nor  will  you,  in 
any  way,  encourage  such  servants  to  leave  the  lawful  service  of  the?r 
masters ;  nor  will  you,  except  in  cases  where  the  public  safety  may  seem 
to  require  it,  prevent  the  voluntary  return  of  any  fugitive  to  the  service 
from  which  he  may  have  escaped. 

The  same  policy  was  adopted  in  every  part  of  the  coun- 
ty, All  interference  with  the  internal  institutions  of 
any  State  was  expressly  forbidden  ;  but  the  Government 
would  avail  itself  of  the  services  of  a  portion  of  the 
slaves,  taking  care  fully  to  provide  for  compensation  to 
loyal  masters.  On  the  16th  of  August,  Hon.  C.  B.  Smith, 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in  a  speech  made  at  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  took  occasion  to  declare  the  policy  of  the 
Administration  upon  this  subject.  Its  theory,  said  he,  is, 
that  "the  States  are  sovereign  within  their  spheres;  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  has  no  more  right  to 
interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  South  Carolina 
than  it  has  to  interfere  with  the  peculiar  institution  of 
Rhode  Island,  whose  benefits  I  have  enjoyed." 

On  the  31st  of  August,  General  Fremont,  commandiDg 
the  Western  Department,  which  embraced  Missouri  and  a 
part  of  Kentucky,  issued  an  order  "extending  and  de- 
claring established  martial  law  throughout  the  State  of 
Missouri,"  and  declaring  that  "the  property,  real  am; 
personal,  of  all  persons  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  wha 
shall  take  up  arms  against  the  United  States,  or  who  shall 
be  directly  proven  to  have  taken  an  active  part  with  their 
enemies  in  the  field,  is  declared  to  be  confiscated  to  the 
public  use,  and  their  slaves,  if  any  they  have,  are  hereby 
declared  free  men."  The  President  regarded  this  order 
as  transcending  the  authority  vested  in  him  by  the  Act  of 
Congress,  and  wrote  to  General  Fremont,  calling  his  at* 
tv-ntion  to  this  point,  and  requesting  him  to  modify  hin 
proclamation  so  as  to  make  it  conform  to  the  law.  Gen- 
eral Fremont,  desiring  to  throw  off  from  himself  the 
responsibility  of  changing   his   action,   cjesired   an  ex 


208  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

plicit  order — whereupon  the  President  thus  addressed 
him  : — 

Washington,  D.  C,  September  11, 1861, 
Major-General  John  0.  Fremont  : — 

Sir: — Yours  of  the  8th,  in  answer  to  mine  of  the  2d  instant,  was  just 
received.  Assured  that  you  upon  the  ground  could  better  judge  of  tho 
necessities  of  your  position  than  I  could  at  this  distance,  on  seeing  your 
proclamation  of  August  30,  I  perceived  no  general  objection  to  it ;  tho 
p articular  clause,  however,  in  relation  to  the  confiscation  of  property  and 
the  liberation  of  slaves,  appeared  to  me  to  be  objectionable  in  its  non- 
conformity to  the  Act  of  Congress,  passed  the  Cth  of  last  August,  upon 
the  same  subjects,  and  hence  I  wrote  you  expressing  my  wish  that  that 
clause  should  be  modified  accordingly.  Your  answer,  just  received,  ex- 
presses the  preference  on  your  part  that  I  should  make  an  open  order  for 
the  modification,  which  I  very  cheerfully  do.  It  is  therefore  ordered  that 
the  said  clause  of  said  proclamation  be  so  modified,  held,  and  construed, 
as  to  conform  with,  and  not  to  transcend,  the  provisions  on  the  same  sub- 
ject contained  in  the  act  of  Congress  entitled  "An  Act  to  confiscate  prop- 
erty used  for  insurrectionary  purposes,"  approved  August  6,  1861,  and 
the  said  act  be  published  at  length  with  this  order. 

Your  obedient  servant,  A.  Lincoln. 

These  views  of  the  Government  were  still  farther  en- 
forced in  a  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  War  to  General  T. 
W.  Sherman,  who  commanded  the  expedition  to  Port 
Royal,  and  in  orders  issued  by  General  Dix  in  Virginia, 
on  the  17th  of  November,  and  by  General  Halleck,  who 
succeeded  General  Fremont  in  the  Western  Department, 
prohibiting  fugitive  slaves  from  being  received  within 
ihe  lines  of  the  army.  During  all  this  time  strenuous 
efforts  were  made  in  various  quarters  to  induce  the  Presi- 
dent to  depart  from  this  policy,  and  not  only  to  proclaim 
a  general  emancipation  of  all  the  slaves,  but  to  put  anna 
in  their  hands,  and  employ  them  in  the  field  against  the 
rebels.  But  they  were  ineffectual.  The  President  ad- 
hered firmly  and  steadily  to  the  policy  which  the  then 
existing  circumstances  of  the  country,  in  his  judgment, 
rendered  wise  and  necessary ;  and  he  was  sustained  in 
this  action  by  the  public  sentiment  of  the  loyal  States, 
and  by  the  great  body  of  the  people  in  the  Slave  States 
along  the  border.  The  course  which  he  pursued  at  that 
time  contributed  largely,  beyond  doubt,  to  strengthen 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  209 

the  cause  of  the  Union  in  those  Border  States,  and  espe- 
cially to  withdraw  Tennessee  from  her  hastily  formed 
connection  with  the  rebel  Confederacy. 

In  the  early  part  of  November  an  incident  occurred 
which  threatened  for  a  time  to  involve  the  country  in 
open  war  with  England.  On  the  7th  of  that  month  the 
British  mail  steamer  Trent  left  Havana  for  St.  Thomas, 
having  on  board  Messrs.  J.  M.  Mason  and  John  SLidelL, 
on  their  way  as  commissioners  from  the  Confederate 
States  to  England  and  Prance.  On  the  8th  the  Trent  wu 
hailed  from  the  United  States  frigate  San  Jacinto,  Captain 
Wilkes,  and  brought-  to  by  a  shot  across  her  bows.  Two 
officers  and  about  twenty  armed  men  from  the  latter  then 
went  on  board  the  Trent,  searched  her,  and  took  from 
her  by  force,  and  against  the  protest  of  the  British  offi- 
cers, the  two  rebel  commissioners,  with  Messrs.  Eustis 
and  McFarland,  their  Secretaries,  who  were  brought  to 
the  United  States  and  lodged  in  Fort  Warren,  the  Trent 
being  released  and  proceeding  on  her  way.  The  most 
intense  excitement  pervaded  the  country  when  news  of 
this  affair  was  received.  The  feeling  was  one  of  admira- 
tion at  the  boldness  of  Captain  Wilkes,  and  of  exultation 
at  the  capture  of  the  rebel  emissaries.  In  England  the 
most  intense  and  passionate  resentment  took  possession 
of  the  public  mind.  The  demand  for  instant  redress  was 
universal,  and,  in  obedience  to  it,  the  Government  at 
once  ordered  troops  to  Canada  and  the  outfit  of  vessels 
of  war. 

Our  Government  met  the  matter  with  prompt  and  self- 
possessed  decision.  On  the  30th  of  November  Mr.  Sew 
ard  wrote  to  Mr.  Adams  a  general  statement  of  the  facts 
of  the  case,  accompanied  by  the  assurance  that  "in  the 
capture  of  Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell  Captain  Wilkes  had 
acted  without  any  instructions  from  the  Government," 
and  that  our  Government  was  prepared  to  discuss  the 
matter  in  a  perfectly  fair  and  friendly  spirit  as  soon  as 
the  ground  taken  by  the  British  Government  should  be 
made  known.  Earl  Russell,  under  the  same  date,  wrote 
to  J  ord  Lyons,  rehearsing  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  say 
U 


210  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

ing  that  the  British  Government  was  "  willing  to  believe 
that  the  naval  officer  who  committed  the  aggression  was 
not  acting  in  compliance  with  any  authority  from  his 
Government,"  because  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  "must  be  fully  aware  that  the  British  Government 
could  not  allow  such  an  affront  to  the  national  honor  to 
pass  without  frll  reparation."  Earl  Russell  trusted, 
therefore,  that  v  hen  the  matter  should  be  brought  under 
its  notice  the  Vnited  States  Government  would,  "  of  it  a 
own  accord,  offer  to  the  British  Government  such  redress 
as  alone  could  satisfy  the  British  nation,  namely,  the  lib- 
eration of  the  four  gentlemen  and  their  delivery  to  the 
British  minister,  that  they  may  again  be  placed  under 
British  protection,  and  a  suitable  apology  for  the  aggres- 
sion which  has  been  committed."  In  a  subsequent  note 
Lord  Lyons  was  instructed  to  wait  seven  days  after  it3 
delivery  for  a  reply  to  this  demand,  and  in  case  no  an- 
swer, or  any  other  answer  than  a  compliance  with  its 
terms,  should  be  given  by  the  expiration  of  that  time,  ho 
was  to  leave  Washington  with  the  archives  of  the  lega- 
tion, and  repair  immediately  to  London. 

On  the  26th  of  December  the  Secretary  of  State,  by  di^ 
rection  of  the  President,  sent  a  reply  to  this  dispatch,  in 
which  the  whole  question  was  discussed  at  length,  and 
with  conspicuous  ability.  The  Government  decided  that 
the  detention  of  the  vessel,  and  the  removal  from  her  of 
the  emissaries  of  the  rebel  confederacy,  was  justifiable  by 
the  laws  of  war  and  the  practice  and  precedents  of  the 
British  Government ;  but  that  in  assuming  to  decide  upon 

e  liability  of  these  persons  to  capture  for  himself,  in- 
.  uad  of  sending  them  before  a  legal  tribunal  where  a 
regular  trial  could  be  had,  Captain  Wilkes  had  departed 
from  the  rule  of  international  law  uniformly  asserted  by 
the  American  Government,  and  forming  part  of  its  most 
cherished  policy.  The  Government  decided,  therefore, 
that  the  four  persons  in  question  would  be  "cheerfully 
liberated."  This  decision,  sustained  by  the  reasoning 
advanced  in  its  support,  commanded  the  immediate  and 
universal  acquiescence  of  the  American  people  ;  while  in 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  211 

England  it  was  received  with  hearty  applause  by  the 
friends  of  this  country,  especially  as  it  silenced  the  clam- 
ors and  disappointed  the  hostile  hopes  of  its  enemies. 
The  French  Government  had  joined  that  of  England  in 
its  representations  upon  this  subject,  and  the  decision  of 
our  Government  was  received  there  with  equal  satisfac- 
tion. The  effect  of  the  incident,  under  the  just  and  judi- 
cious course  adopted  by  the  Administration,  was  emi- 
nently favorable  to  the  United  States — increasing  the 
general  respect  for  its  adherence  to  sound  principles  of 
public  law,  and  silencing  effectually  the  slander  that  its 
Government  was  too  weak  to  disappoint  or  thwart  a  pop- 
ular clamor.  One  of  the  immediate  fruits  of  the  discus- 
sion was  the  prompt  rejection  of  all  demands  for  recog- 
nizing the  independence  of  the  Confederate  Btates. 


212  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

TfTB     REGULAR    SESSION    OP    CONGRESS,  DECEMBER,    1861.—  TH1 
MESSAGE.— DEBATES,  ETC. 

Meeting  of  Congress. — President's  Message.— Disposition  of  Co>.- 
GREss. — Slavery  in  Territories  and  District  of  Colombia.— -Pro  4 
posed  Aid  to  Emancipation  by  Slave  States. — The  Debate  in 
Congress. — The  President  and  General  Hunter. — The  Border 
State  Representatives. — TnE  Border  State  Reply. — Tns  Finances. 
— The  Confiscation  Bill. — The  President's  Action  and  Opinions. — 
The  President's  Message. — Message  in  Regard  to  Mr.  Cameron. — 
The  President  and  ms  Cabinet. — Close  of  the  Session  of  Con- 
gress.— The  President's  Letter  to  Mr.  Greeley. — The  President 
*nd  the  Chicago  Convention. — Proclamation  of  Emancipation. 

Congress  met  in  regular  session  (the  second  of  the 
Thirty- seventh  Congress)  on  the  2d  of  December,  1861. 
On  the  next  day  the  President  sent  in  his  Annual  Message, 
as  follows  : — 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : 

In  the  midst  of  unprecedented  political  troubles,  we  have  cause  of  great 
gratitude  to  God  for  unusual  good  health  and  most  abundant  harvests. 

You  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that,  in  the  peculiar  exigencies  of  the 
times,  our  intercourse  with  foreign  nations  has  been  attended  with  profound 
solicitude,  chiefly  turning  upon  our  own  domestic  affairs. 

A  disloyal  portion  of  the  American  people  have,  during  the  whole  year, 
been  engaged  in  an  attempt  to  divide  and  destroy  the  Union.     A  nation 
whi:l  endures  factious  domestic  division  is  exposed  to  disrespect  abroad 
and  one  party,  if  not  both,  is  sure,  sooner  or  later,  to  invoke  foreign  inter- 
vention. 

Nations  thus  tempted  to  interfere  are  not  always  able  to  resist  the 
counsels  of  seeming  expediency  and  ungenerous  ambition,  although 
measures  adopted  under  such  influences  seldon  fail  to  be  unfortunate  and 
injurious  to  those  adopting  them. 

The  disloyal  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  have  offered  the  ruin  of 
our  country,  in  return  for  the  aid  and  comfort  which  they  have  invoked 
abroad,  have  received  less  patronage  and  encouragement  than  they  prob- 
ably expected.     If  it  were  just  to  suppose,  as  the  insurgents  have  seemed 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  213 

to  assume,  that  foreign  nations,  in  this  case,  discarding  all  moral,  social, 
and  treaty  obligations,  would  act  solely  and  selfishly  for  the  most  speedy 
restoration  of  commerce,  including  especially  the  acquisition  of  cotton, 
those  nations  appear,  as  yet,  not  to  have  seen  their  way  to  their  object 
more  directly,  or  clearly,  through  the  destruction,  than  through  the  pres- 
ervation, of  the  Union.  If  we  could  dare  to  believe  that  foreign  nations 
ire  actuated  by  no  higher  principle  than  this,  I  am  quite  sure  a  sound  ar- 
uneut  could  be  made  to  show  them  that  they  can  reach  their  aim  more 
lily  and  easily  by  aiding  to  crush  this  rebellion,  than  by  giving  en 
touragement  to  it. 

The  principal  lever  relied  on  by  the  insurgents  for  exciting  foreign 
nations  to  hostility  against  us,  as  already  intimated,  is  the  embarrassment 
of  commerce.  Those  nations,  however,  not  improbably,  saw  from  the 
first,  that  it  was  the  Union  which  made,  as  well  our  foreign  as  our  do- 
mestic commerce.  They  can  scarcely  have  failed  to  perceive  that  the  effort 
for  disunion  produced  the  existing  difficulty ;  and  that  one  strong  nation 
promises  mote  durable  peace,  and  a  more  extensive,  valuable,  and  reliable 
commerce,  than  can  the  same  nation  broken  into  hostile  fragments. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  review  our  discussions  with  foreign  states; 
because  whatever  might  bo  their  wishes  or  dispositions,  the  integrity  of 
our  country  and  the  stability  of  our  Government  mainly  depend,  not  upon 
them,  but  on  the  loyalty,  virtue,  patriotism,  and  intelligence  of  the  Amer- 
ican people.  The  correspondence  itself,  with  the  usual  reservations,  is 
herewith  submitted. 

I  venture  to  hope  it  will  appear  that  we  have  practised  prudence  and 
liberality  towards  foreign  powers,  averting  causes  of  irritation ;  and  with 
firmness  maintaining  our  own  rights  and  honor. 

Since,  however,  it  is  apparent  that  here,  as  in  every  other  state,  foreign 
dangers  necessarily  attend  domestic  difficulties,  I  recommend  that  adequate 
and  ample  measures  be  adopted  for  maintaining  the  public  defences  on 
.  try  side.  "While,  under  this  general  recommendation,  provision  for  defend- 
ig  our  sea-coast  line  readily  occurs  to  the  mind,  I  also,  in  the  same  con- 
nection, ask  the  attention  of  Congress  to  our  great  lakes  and  rivers.  It  is 
Velieved  that  some  fortifications  and  depots  of  arms  and  munitions,  with 
harbor  and  navigation  improvements,  all  at  well-selected  points  upon 
these,  would  be  of  great  importance  to  the  national  defence  and  preserva- 
tion. I  ask  attention  to  the  views  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  expressed  in 
his  report,  upon  the  same  general  subject. 

I  deem  it  of  importance  that  the  loyal  regions  of  East  Tennessee  and 
Western  North  Carolina  should  be  connected  with  Kentucky  and  other 
faithful  parts  of  the  Union  by  railroad.  I  therefore  recommend,  as  a 
military  measure,  that  Congress  provide  for  the  construction  of  such  road 
as  speedily  as  possible. 

Kentucky  will  no  doubt  co-operate,  and  through  her  Legislature  make 

$#  rm&t  pidmom  selection  of  $  lin©,    Th»  BPrtfc§rs  termlnm  mm 


214  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

connect  with  some  existing  railroad,  and  whether  the  route  shall  be  from 
Lexington  or  Nicholasville  to  the  Cumberland  Gap,  or  from  Lebanon  to 
the  Tennesee  line,  In  the  direction  of  Knoxville,  or  on  some  still  different 
line,  can  easily  be  determined.  Kentucky  and  the  General  Government 
co-operating,  the  work  can  be  completed  in  a  very  short  time,  and  when 
done  It  will  be  not  only  of  vast  present  usefulness,  but  also  a  valuable 
permanent  improvement  worth  its  cost  in  all  the  future. 

Some  treaties,  designed  chiefly  for  the  interests  of  commerce,  and  having 
no  grave  political  importance,  have  been  negotiated,  and  will  be  submitted 
to  the  Senate  for  their  consideration.  Although  we  have  foiled  to  induce 
some  of  the  commercial  Powers  to  adopt  a  desirable  melioration  of  the  rigor 
of  maritime  war,  we  have  removed  all  obstructions  from  the  way  of  this} 
humane  reform,  except  such  as  are  merely  of  temporary  and  accidental 
occurrence. 

I  invite  your  attention  to  the  correspondence  between  her  Britannic 
Majesty's  Minister,  accredited  to  this  Government,  and  the  Secretary  of 
State,  relative  to  the  detention  of  the  British  ship  Perthshire  in  June  last 
by  the  United  States  steamer  Massachusetts,  for  a  supposed  breach  of  the 
blockade.  As  this  detention  was  occasioned  by  an  obvious  misapprehen- 
sion of  the  facts,  and  as  justice  requires  that  we  should  commit  no  belliger- 
ent act  not  founded  in  strict  right  as  sanctioned  by  public  law,  I  recom- 
mend that  an  appropriation  be  made  to  satisfy  the  reasonable  demand  of 
the  owners  of  the  vessel  for  her  detention. 

I  repeat  the  recommendation  of  my  predecessor  in  his  annual  message  to 
Congress  in  December  last  in  regard  to  the  disposition  of  the  surplus 
which  will  probably  remain  after  satisfying  the  claims  of  American  citizens 
against  China,  pursuant  to  the  awards  of  the  commissioners  under  the  act 
of  the  3d  of  March,  1859. 

If,  however,  it  should  not  be  deemed  advisable  to  carry  that  recom- 
mendation into  effect,  I  would  suggest  that  authority  be  given  for  invest- 
ing the  principal  over  the  proceeds  of  the  surplus  referred  to  in  good  se- 
curities, with  a  view  to  the  satisfaction  of  such  other  just  claim  of  onr 
citizens  against  China  as  are  not  unlikely  to  arise  hereafter  in  the  course 
of  our  extensive  trade  with  that  empire. 

By  the  act  of  the  5th  of  August  last,  Congress  authorized  the  President 
to  instruct  the  commanders  of  suitable  vessels  to  defend  themselves  against 
and  to  capture  pirates.  This  authority  has  been  exercised  in  a  single  in- 
stance only. 

For  the  more  effectual  protection  of  our  extensive  and  valuable  com- 
merce in  the  Eastern  seas  especially,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  would  also  bti 
advisable  to  authorize  the  commanders  of  sailing-vessels  to  recapture  any 
prizes  which  pirates  may  make  of  the  United  States  vessels  and  their  car- 
goes, and  the  Consular  Courts  established  by  lav/  in  Eastern  countries  to 
adjudicate  the  cases  in  the  event  that  this  should  not  be  objected  to  by 
the  local  authorities. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  215 

If  any  good  reason   exists  why  we  should  persevere  longer  in  wilh 

*  aiding  our  recognition  of  the  independence  and  sovereignty  of  Hayii 
a  ad  Liberia,  I  am  unable  to  discern  it.  Unwilling,  however,  to  inaugurate 
»  novel  policy  in  regard  to  them  without  the  approbation  of  Congress,  1 
sibinit  to.  your  consideration  the  expediency  of  an  appropriation  for 
naii.taining  a  Charge  d"1  Affaires  near  each  of  those  new  states.  It  do«a 
not  admit  of  doubt  that  important  commercial  advantages  might  be  secured 
by  favorable  treaties  with  them. 

The  operations  of  the  Treasury  during  the  period  which  has  elapsed 
*ince  your  adjournment  have  been  conducted  with  signal  success.  The 
itriotism  of  the  people  has  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Government  the 
urge  means  demanded  by  the  public  exigencies.  Much  of  the  national 
k>an  has  been  taken  by  citizens  of  the  industrial  classes,  whose  confidence 
in  their  country's  faith,  and  zeal  for  their  country's  deliverance  froit  its 
present  peril,  have  induced  them  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  the 
Government  the  whole  of  their  limited  acquisitions.  This  fact  imposes 
peculiar  obligations  to  economy  in  disbursement  and  energy  in  action. 
The  revenue  from  all  sources,  including  loans  for  the  fiuancial  year  ending 
on  the  30th  of  June,  1861,  was  $86,835,900  27;  and  the  expenditures  for 
the  same  period,  including  payments  on  account  of  the  public  debt,  were 
$84,578,034  47;  leaving  a  balance  in  the  treasury,  on  the  1st  of  July,  of 
$2,257,065  80  for  the  first  quarter  of  the  financial  year  ending  on  Sep- 
tember 30,  1861.  The  receipts  from  all  sources,  including  the  balance  of 
July  1,  were  $102,532,509  27,  and  the  expenses  $98,239,733  09;  leaving 

*  balance,  on  the  1st  of  October,  1861-  of  $4,292,776  18. 

Estimates  for  tho  remaining  three-quarters  of  the  year  and  for  the 
financial  year  of  1863,  together  with  his  views  of  the  ways  and  means  for 
meeting  the  demands  contemplated  by  them,  will  be  submitted  to  Congress 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the 
expenses  made  necessary  by  the  rebellion  are  not  beyond  the  resources  of 
the  loyal  people,  and  to  believe  that  the  same  patriotism  which  has  thus 
far  sustained  the  Government  will  continue  to  sustain  it  till  peace  and 
union  shall  again  bless  the  land.  I  respectfully  refer  to  the  report  of  the 
'ecretary  of  War  for  information  respecting  the  numerical  strength  of  the 
ay,  and  for  recommendations  having  in  view  an  increase  of  its  efficiency, 
ai  the  well-being  of  the  various  brauches  of  the  service  intrusted  ta  his 
care.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  patriotism  of  the  people  has  proved 
equal  to  the  occasion,  and  that  the  number  of  troops  tendered  greatly 
exceed  the  force  which  Congress  authorized  me  to  call  into  the  field.  I 
refer  with  pleasure  to  those  portions  of  his  report  which  make  allusion  to 
the  creditable  degree  of  discipline  already  attained  by  our  troops,  and  to 
the  excellent  sanitary  condition  of  the  entire  army.  The  recornmendation 
of  the  Secretary  for  an  organization  of  the  militia  upon  a  uniform  basis  is 
a  subject  of  vital  importance  to  the  future  safety  of  the  country,  and  in 
commended  to  the  serious  attention  of  Congress.     The  large  addition  to 


2IG  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

tne  regular  army,  in  connection  with  the  defection  that  has  so  considera 
biy  diminished  the  number  of  its  officers,  give*  peculiar  importance  to  his 
recommendation  for  increasing  the  corps  of  cadets  to  the  greatest  capacity 
of  the  Military  Academy. 

By  mere  omission,  I  presume,  Congress  has  failed  to  provide  chaplain* 
for  the  hospitals  occupied  by  the  volunteers.  This  subject  was  brought  to 
my  notice,  and  I  was  induced  to  draw  up  the  form  of  a  letter,  one  ^opy 
of  which,  properly  addressed,  has  been  delivered  to  each  of  the  person, 
and  at  the  dates  respectively  named  and  stated  in  a  schedule,  containing, 
also,  the  form  of  the  letter  marked  A,  and  herewith  transmitted.  Those 
gentlemen,  I  understand,  entered  upon  the  duties  designated  at  the  times 
respectively  stated  in  the  schedule,  and  have  labored  faithfully  therein 
ever  since.  I  therefore  recommend  that  they  be  compensated  at  the  same 
rate  as  chaplains  in  the  army.  I  further  suggest  that  general  provision  be 
made  for  chaplains  to  serve  at  hospitals,  as  well  as  with  regiments. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  presents,  in  detail,  the  opera 
tions  of  that  branch  of  the  service,  the  activity  and  energy  which  have 
characterized  its  administration,  and  the  results  of  measures  to  increase 
its  efficiency  and  power.  Such  have  been  the  additions,  by  construction 
and  purchase,  that  it  may  almost  be  said  a  navy  has  been  created  and 
brought  into  service  since  our  difficulties  commenced. 

Besides  blockading  our  extensive  coast,  squadrons  larger  than  ever 
before  assembled  under  our  flag  have  been  put  afloat,  and  performed  deeds 
which  have  increased  our  naval  renown. 

I  would  invite  special  attention  to  the  recommendation  of  the  Secretary 
for  a  more  perfect  organization  of  the  navy,  by  introducing  additional 
grades  in  the  service. 

The  present  organization  is  defective  and  unsatisfactory,  and  the  sug- 
gestions submitted  by  the  department  will,  it  is  believed,  if  adopted,  ob- 
nate  the  difficulties  alluded  to,  promote  harmony,  and  increase  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  navy. 

There  are  three  vacancies  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court — two  by 
the  decease  of  Justices  Daniel  and  McLean,  and  one  by  the  resignation  of 
Justice  Campbell.  I  have  so  far  forborne  making  nominations  to  fill  these 
vacancies  for  reasons  which  I  will  now  state.  Two  of  the  outgoing  judges 
resided  within  the  States  now  overrun  by  revolt ;  so  that  if  successors 
were  appointed  in  the  same  localities,  they  could  not  now  serve  upon  their 
circuits;  and  many  of  the  most  competent  men  there  probably  would  not 
take  the  personal  hazard  of  accepting  to  serve,  even  here,  upon  the  su- 
preme bench.  I  have  been  unwilling  to  throw  all  the  appointments 
northward,  thus  disabling  myself  from  doing  justice  to  the  South  on  the 
return  of  peace ;  although  I  may  remark,  that  to  transfer  to  the  North 
one  which  has  heretofore  been  in  the  South,  would  not,  with  reference  to 
territory  and  population,  be  unjust. 

During  the  long  and  brilliant  judicial  career  of  Judge  McLean,  hit  cir- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  217 

cnit  grew  into  an  empire — altogether  too  large  for  any  one  judge  to  give 
the  courts  therein  more  than  a  nominal  attendance — rising  in  population 
from  one  million  four  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  and  eighteen,  in  1830, 
to  six  million  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  thousand  four  hundred  and  five, 
in  1860. 

Besides  this,  the  country  generally  has  outgrown  our  present  judicial 
•ystena.  If  uniformity  was  at  all  intended,  the  system  requires  that  all 
the  States  shall  be  accommodated  with  Circuit  Courts,  attended  by  su- 
preme judges,  while,  in  fact,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Florida, 
Texas,  California,  and  Oregon,  have  never  had  any  such  courts.  Nor  can 
this  well  be  remedied  without  a  change  of  the  system ;  because  the  add- 
ing of  judges  to  the  Supreme  Court,  enough  for  the  accommodation  of  all 
parts  of  the  country  with  Circuit  Courts,  would  create  a  court  altogether 
too  numerous  for  a  judicial  body  of  any  sort.  And  the  evil,  if  it  be  one, 
will  increase  as  new  States  come  into  the  Union.  Circuit  Courts  are  use- 
ful, or  they  are  not  useful.  If  useful,  no  State  should  be  denied  them  ;  if 
not  useful,  no  State  should  have  them.  Let  them  be  provided  for  all,  or 
abolished  as  to  all. 

Three  modifications  occur  to  me,  either  of  which,  I  think,  would  be  an 
improvement  upon  our  present  system.  Let  the  Supreme  Court  be  of 
convenient  number  in  every  event.  Then,  first,  let  the  whole  country  be 
divided  into  circuits  of  convenient  size,  the  supreme  judges  to  serve  in  a 
number  of  them  corresponding  to  thev  own  number,  and  independent 
circuit  judges  be  provided  for  all  the  rest.  Or,  secondly,  let  the  supreme 
judges  be  relieved  from  circuit  duties,  and  circuit  judges  provided  f  r  all 
the  circuits.  Or,  thirdly,  dispense  wUh  circuit  courts  altogether,  leaving 
the  judicial  functions  wholly  to  the  c?atrict  courts  and  an  independent 
Supreme  Court. 

I  respectfully  recommend  to  the  consideration  of  Congress  the  present 
condition  of  the  statute  laws,  with  the  hope  that  Congress  will  be  able 
to  find  an  easy  remedy  for  many  of  the  inconveniences  and  evils  which 
constantly  embarrass  those  engaged  in  the  practical  administration  of 
their..  Since  the  organization  of  the  Government,  Congress  has  enacted 
Borne  fire  thousand  acts  and  joint  resolutions,  which  fill  more  than  six 
thousand  closely -printed  pages,  and  are  scattered  through  many  volumes. 
Many  of  these  acts  have  beer,  drawn  in  haste  and  without  sufficient  cau- 
tion, so  that  their  provisions  are  often  obscure  in  themselves,  or  in  con- 
flict with  each  other,  or  at  least  so  doubtful  as  to  render  it  very  difficult 
for  even  the  best-informed  persons  to  ascertain  precisely  what  the  statute 
law  really  is. 

It  seems  to  me  very  important  that  the  statute  laws  should  be  made  as 
plain  and  intelligible  as  possible,  and  bo  reduced  to  as  small  a  compass  as 
may  consist  with  the  fulness  and  precision  of  the  will  of  the  legislature 
and  the  perspicuity  of  its  language.  This,  well  done,  would,  I  think, 
greatly  facilitate  the  labors  of  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  assist  in  the  ad« 


218  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

ministration  of  the  laws,  and  would  be  a  lasting  benefit  to  the  people,  by 
placing  before  them,  in  a  more  accessible  and  intelligible  form,  the  laws 
which  so  deeply  concern  their  interests  and  their  duties. 

I  am  informed  by  some  whose  opinions  I  respect,  that  all  the  acts  of 
Congress  now  in  force,  and  of  a  permanent  and  general  nature,  might  be 
revised  and  rewritten,  so  as  to  be  embraced  in  one  volume  (or,  at  most, 
two  volumes)  of  ordinary  and  convenient  size.  And  I  respectfully  recom  . 
mend  to  Congress  to  consider  of  the  subject,  and,  if  my  suggestion  be  ft  I 
proved,  to  devise  such  plan  as  to  their  wisdom  shall  seem  most  proper  ft  *' 
the  attainment  of  the  end  proposed. 

One  of  the  unavoidable  consequences  of  the  present  insurrection  is  the 
eatire  suppression,  in  many  places,  of  all  the  ordinary  means  of  admin- 
i/tering  civil  justice  by  the  officers,  and  in  the  forms  of  existing  law.  This 
i*  the  case,  in  whole  or  in  part,  in  all  the  insurgent  States ;  and  as  our 
/.rinies  advance  upon  and  take  possession  of  parts  of  those  States,  the 
[ractical  evil  becomes  more  apparent.  There  are  no  courts  nor  officers  to 
rhom  the  citizens  of  other  States  may  apply  for  the  enforcement  of  their 
lawful  claims  against  citizens  of  the  insurgent  States ;  and  there  is  a  vast 
amount  of  debt  constituting  such  claims.  Some  have  estimated  it  as  high 
as  two  hundred  million  dollars,  due,  in  large  part,  from  insurgents  in  open 
rebellion  to  loyal  citizens  who  are,  even  now,  making  great  sacrifices  in 
the  discharge  of  their  patriotic  duty  to  support  the  Government. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  have  been  urgently  solicited  to  establish, 
Dy  military  power,  courts  to  administer  summary  justice  in  such  cases.  I 
have  thus  far  declined  to  do  it,  not  because  I  had  any  doubt  that  the  end 
proposed — the  collection  of  the  debts — was  just  and  right  in  itself,  but 
because  I  have  been  unwilling  to  go  beyond  the  pressure  of  necessity  in 
the  unusual  exercise  of  power.  But  the  powers  of  Congress,  I  suppose, 
are  equal  to  the  anomalous  occasion,  and  therefore  I  refer  the  whole  mat- 
ter to  Congress,  with  the  hope  that  a  plan  may  be  devised  for  the  admin- 
istration of  justice  in  all  such  parts  of  the  insurgent  States  and  Territories 
'as  dli/  Ve  nnder  the  control  of  this  Government,  whether  by  a  voluntas 
return  \o  allegiance  and  order,  or  by  the  power  of  our  arms;  this,  how 
ever,  net  to  be  a  permanent  institution,  but  a  temporary  substitute,  and 
to  ced*e  as  soon  as  the  ordinary  courts  can  be  re-established  in  peace. 

It  is  important  that  some  more  convenient  means  should  be  provided, 
if  possible,  for  the  adjustment  of  claims  against  the  Government,  espe- 
cially in  view  of  their  increased  number  by  reason  of  the  war.  It  is  as 
much  the  duty  of  Government  to  render  prompt  justice  against  itself,  in 
favor  of  citizens,  as  it  is  to  administer  the  same  between  private  indi- 
viduals. The  investigation  and  adjudication  of  claims,  in  their  nature, 
belong  to  the  judicial  department ;  besides,  it  is  apparent  that  the  atten- 
tion of  Congress  will  be  more  than  usually  engaged,  for  some  time  to 
come,  with  great  national  questions.  It  was  intended,  by  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Court  of  Claims,  mainly  to  remove  this  branch  of  business 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  219 

from  the  halls  of  Congress;  but  while  the  court  has  proved  to  te  an  ef- 
fective and  valuable  means  of  investigation,  it  in  great  degree  fails  to  effect 
the  object  of  its  creation,  for  want  of  power  to  make  its  judgments  final. 

Fully  aware  of  the  delicacy,  not  to  say  the  danger,  of  the  subject,  I  com- 
mend to  your  careful  consideration  whether  this  power  of  making  judg- 
ments final  may  not  properly  be  given  to  the  court,  reserving  the  right 
of  appeal  on  questions  of  law  to  the  Supreme  Court,  with  such  other 
provisions  as  experience  may  have  shown  to  be  necessary. 

I  ask  attention  to  the  report  of  the  Postmaster-General,  tue  followiu 
being  a  summary  statement  of  the  condition  of  the  department : 

The  revenue  from  all  sources  during  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  SO, 
1861,  including  the  annual  permanent  appropriation  of  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars  for  the  transportation  of  ufree  mail  matter,"  was  nine 
million  forty-nine  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars  and  forty 
cents,  being  about  two  per  cent,  less  than  the  revenue  for  1860. 

The  expenditures  were  thirteen  million  six  hundred  and  six  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  fifty-nine  dollars  and  eleven  cents,  showing  a  decrease 
of  more  than  eight  per  cent,  as  compared  with  those  of  the  previous  year, 
and  leaving  an  excess  of  expenditure  over  the  revenue  for  the  last  fiscal 
year  of  four  million  five  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand  four  hundred 
and  sixty-two  dollars  and  seventy-one  cents. 

The  gross  revenue  for  the  year  ending  June  30, 1863,  is  estimated  at  an 
increase  of  four  per  cent,  on  that  of  1861,  making  eight  million  six  hun- 
dred and  eighty-three  thousand  dollars,  to  which  should  be  added  the 
earnings  of  the  department  in  carrying  free  matter,  viz.,  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  making  nine  million  three  hundred  and  eighty-three 
thousand  dollars. 

The  total  expenditures  for  1863  are  estimated  at  twelve  million  five 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  thousand  dollars,  leaving  an  estimated  defi- 
ciency of  three  million  one  hundred  and  forty-five  thousand  dollars  to  be 
supplied  from  the  Treasury,  in  addition  to  the  permanent  appropriation. 

The  present  insurrection  shows,  I  think,  that  the  extension  of  this  dis- 
trict across  the  Potomac  River,  at  the  time  of  establishing  the  Capital 
here,  was  eminently  wise,  and  consequently  that  the  relinquishment  of 
that  portion  of  it  which  lies  within  the  State  of  Virginia  was  unwise  and 
dangerous.  I  submit  for  your  consideration  the  expediency  of  regaining 
tfcat  part  of  the  district,  and  the  restoration  of  the  original  boundaries 
thereof,  through  negotiations  with  the  State  of  Virginia. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  with  the  accompanying 
documents,  exhibits  the  condition  of  the  several  branches  of  the  public 
business  pertaining  to  that  department.  The  depressing  inthiences  pf  the 
insurrection  have  been  especially  felt  in  the  operations  of  the  Patent  and 
General  Land  Offices.  The  cash  receipts  from  the  sales  of  public  land* 
during  the  past  year  have  exceeded  the  expenses  of  our  land  system  only 
about  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.     Tbe  sales  have  been  entirely  bu»- 


220  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

pended  in  the  Southern  States,  while  the  interruptions  to  the  business  of 
the  country,  and  the  diversion  of  large  numbers  of  men  from  labor  ta 
military  service,  have  obstructed  settlements  in  the  new  States  and  Terri- 
tories of  the  Northwest. 

The  receipts  of  the  Patent  Office  have  declined  in  nine  months  about 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  rendering  a  large  reduction  of  the  force 
employed  necessary  to  make  it  self-sustaining. 

The  demands  upon  the  Pension  Office  will  be  largely  increased  by  the 
insurrection.  Numerous  applications  for  pensions,  based  upon  the  casual- 
ties of  the  existing  war,  have  already  been  made.  There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  many  who  are  now  upon  the  pension  rolls,  and  in.  receipt  of 
the  bounty  of  the  Government,  are  in  the  ranks  of  the  insurgent  army,  or 
giving  them  aid  and  comfort.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  has  directed 
a  suspension  of  the  payment  of  the  pensions  of  such  persons  upon  proof 
of  their  disloyalty.  I  recommend  that  Congress  authorize  that  officer  to 
cause  i)»i»  names  of  such  persons  to  be  stricken  from  the  pension  rolls. 

The  relations  of  the  Government  with  the  Indian  tribes  have  been 
greatly  disturbed  by  the  insurrection,  especially  in  the  southern  suporin- 
tendency  and  in  that  of  New  Mexico.  The  Indian  country  south  of  Kansas 
is  in  the  possession  of  insurgents  from  Texas  and  Arkansas.  The  agents 
of  the  United  States  appointed  since  the  4th  of  March  for  this  superin 
tendency  have  been  unable  to  reach  their  posts,  while  the  most  of  thos* 
who  were  in  office  before  that  time  have  espoused  the  insurrectionary 
cause,  and  assume  to  exercise  the  powers  of  agents  by  virtue  of  commis- 
sions from  the  insurrectionists.  It  has  been  stated  in  the  public  press  that 
a  portion  of  those  Indians  have  been  organized  as  a  military  force,  and 
are  attached  to  the  army  of  the  insurgents.  Although  the  Government 
has  no  official  information  upon  this  subject,  letters  have  been  written  to 
the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  by  several  prominent  chiefs,  giving 
assurance  of  their  loyalty  to  the  United  States,  and  expressing  a  wish  for 
the  presence  of  Federal  troops  to  protect  them.  It  is  believed  that  upon 
the  repossession  of  the  country  by  the  Federal  forces,  the  Indians  will 
readily  cease  all  hostile  demonstrations,  and  resume  their  former  relations 
to  the  Government. 

Agriculture,  confessedly  the  largest  interest  of  the  nation,  has  not  a 
department,  nor  a  bureau,  but  a  clerkship  only,  assigned  to  it  in  the  Gov- 
ernment. While  it  is  fortunate  that  this  great  interest  is  so  independent 
in  its  nature  as  to  not  have  demanded  and  extorted  more  from  the  Gov- 
ernment, I  respectfully  ask  Congress  to  consider  whether  something  more 
cannot  be  given  voluntarily  with  general  advantage. 

Annual  reports  exhibiting  the  condition  of  our  agriculture,  commerce, 
and  manufactures,  would  present  a  fund  of  information  of  great  practical 
value  to  the  country.  While  I  make  no  suggestion  as  to  details,  I  ven- 
ture the  opinion  that  an  agricultural  and  statistical  bureau  might  profit 
ably  be  organized. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  221 

Tbe  execution  of  the  laws  for  the  suppression  of  the  African  slave-trade 
has  been  confided  to  the  Department  of  the  Interior.  It  is  a  subject  of  grat- 
nlation  that  the  efforts  which  have  been  made  for  the  suppression  of  this 
inhuman  traffic  have  been  recently  attended  with  uuusual  success.  Five 
reesels  being  fitted  out  for  the  slave-trade  have  been  seized  and  con- 
demned. Two  mates  of  vessels  engaged  in  the  trade,  and  one  person  in 
equipping  a  vessel  as  a  slaver,  have  been  convicted  and  subjected  to  the 
penalty  of  fine  and  imprisonment,  and  one  captain,  taken  with  a  cargo  of 
Africans  on  board  his  vessel,  has  been  convicted  of  the  highest  grade  of 
offence  under  our  laws,  the  punishment  of  which  is  death. 

The  Territories  of  Colorado,  Dakotah,  and  Nevada,  created  by  the  la*< 
Congress,  have  been  organized,  and  civil  administration  has  been  inau- 
gurated therein  under  auspices  especially  gratifying,  when  it  is  considered 
that  the  leaven  of  treason  was  found  existing  in  some  of  these  new  coun 
tries  when  the  Federal  officers  arrived  there. 

The  abundant  natural  resources  of  these  Territories,  with  the  security 
and  protection  afforded  by  organized  government,  will  doubtless  invite  to 
them  a  large  immigration  when  peace  shall  restore  the  business  of  the 
country  to  its  accustomed  channels.  I  submit  the  resolutions  of  the  Legis- 
lature of  Colorado,  which  evidence  the  patriotic  spirit  of  the  people  of 
the  Territory.  So  far  the  authority  of  the  United  States  has  been  upheld  in 
ail  the  Territories,  as  it  is  hoped  it  will  be  in  the  future.  I  commend  their 
interests  and  defence  to  the  enlightened  and  generous  care  of  Congress. 

I  recommend  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  Congress  the  interests 
of  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  insurrection  has  been  the  cause  of 
much  suffering  and  sacrifice  to  its  inhabitants,  and  as  they  have  no  rep- 
resentative in  Congress,  that  body  should  not  overlook  their  just  claims 
apon  the  Government. 

At  your  late  session  a  joint  resolution  was  adopted  authorizing  the 
President  to  take  measures  for  facilitating  a  proper  representation  of  the 
industrial  interests  of  the  United  States  at  the  exhibition  of  the  industry 
of  all  nations  to  be  holden  at  London  in  the  year  18G2.  I  regret  to  say 
I  have  been  unable  to  give  personal  attention  to  this  subject — a  subject  at 
once  so  interesting  in  itself,  and  so  extensively  and  intimately  coniitc'H 
with  the  material  prosperity  of  the  world.  Through  the  Secretaru  ~  «•* 
£tate  and  of  the  Interior  a  plan  or  system  has  been  devised  and  parti} 
matured,  and  which  will  be  laid  before  you. 

Under  and  by  virtue  of  the  act  of  Congress  entitled  "An  act  to  con- 
fiscate property  used  for  insurrectionary  purposes,"  approved  August  6, 
1861,  the  legal  cla  ms  of  certain  persons  to  the  labor  and  service  of  cer- 
tain other  persons  have  become  forfeited;  and  numbers  of  the  latter,  thus 
liberated,  are  already  dependenc  on  the  United  States,  and  must  be  pro- 
vided for  in  some  way.  Besides  this,  it  is  not  impossible  that  some  of  the 
States  will  pass  similar  enactments  for  their  own  benefit  respectively, 
And  by  operation  of  which  persons  of  the  same  class  will  be  thrown  upon 


222  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

them  for  disposal.  In  such  case,  I  recommend  that  Congress  provide  foi 
accepting  such  persons  from  such  States,  according  to  some  mode  of  val- 
uation, in  lieu,  pro  tanto,  of  direct  taxes,  or  upon  some  other  plan  to  b* 
agreed  on  with  such  States  respectively :  that  such  persons,  on  such  ac- 
ceptance by  the  General  Government,  be  at  once  deemed  free;  and  that, 
in  any  event,  steps  be  taken  for  colonizing  both  classes  (or  the  one  first 
mentioned,  if  the  other  shall  not  be  brought  into  existence)  at  some  place 
or  places  in  a  climate  congenial  to  them.  It  might  be  well  to  consider, 
too,  whether  the  free  colored  people  already  in  the  United  States  could 
not,  so  far  as  individuals  may  desire,  be  included  in  such  colonization. 

To  carry  out  the  plan  of  colonization  may  involve  the  acquiring  of  ter- 

fory,  and  also  the  appropriation  of  money  beyond  that  to  be  expended 
in  the  territorial  acquisition.  Having  practised  the  acquisition  of  ter- 
ritory for  nearly  sixty  years,  the  question  of  constitutional  power  to  do 
so  is  no  longer  an  open  one  with  us.  The  power  was  questioned  at  first 
by  Mr.  Jefferson,  who,  however,  in  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  yielded  his 
scruples  on  the  plea  of  great  expediency.  If  it  be  said  that  the  only 
legitimate  object  of  acquiring  territory  is  to  furnish  homes  for  white  men, 
this  measure  effects  that  object;  for  the  emigration  of  colored  men  leaves 
additional  room  for  white  men  remaining  or  coming  here.  Mr.  Jefferson, 
however,  placed  the  importance  of  procuring  Louisiana  more  on  political 
and  commercial  grounds  than  on  providing  room  for  population.     , 

On  this  whole  proposition,  including  the  appropriation  of  money  with 
the  acquisition  of  territory,  does  not  the  expediency  amount  to  absolute 
necessity — that,  without  which  the  Government  itself  cannot  be  perpet 
nated  ? 

The  war  continues.  In  considering  the  policy  to  bo  adopted  for  sup- 
pressing the  insurrection,  I  have  been  anxious  and  careful  that  the  inev- 
itable conflict  for  this  purpose  shall  not  degenerate  into  a  violent  and 
-einorseless  revolutionary  struggle. 

In  the  exercise  of  my  best  discretion,  I  have  adhered  to  the  blockade  of 
the  ports  held  by  the  insurgents,  instead  of  putting  in  force  by  proclama 
Uon  the  law  of  Congress  enacted  at  the  late  session  for  closing  those  ports. 

So,  also,  obeying  the  dictates  of  prudence,  as  well  as  the  obligatknii 
of  iaw,  instead  of  transcending  I  have  adhered  to  the  act  of  Congress  to 
confiscate  property  used  for  insurrectionary  purposes.  If  a  new '  law 
upon  the  same  subject  shall  be  proposed,  its  propriety  will  be  duly  con- 
iidered.  The  Union  must  be  preserved;  and  hence  all  indispensable 
means  must  be  employed.  Wo  should  not  be  in  haste  to  determine  that 
radical  and  extreme  measures,  which  may  reach  the  loyal  as  well  as  the 
disloyal,  are  indispensable. 

The  inaugural  address  at  the  beginning  of  the  Administration,  and 
the  message  to  Congress  at  the  late  special  session,  were  both  mainly 
devoted  to  the  domestic  controversy  out  of  which  the  insurrection  and 
consequent  war  have  sprung      Nothing  now  occurs  to  add  or  subtract 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  223 

*o  jr  from  the  principles  or  general  purposes  stated  and  expresned  in  those 
documents. 

The  »ast  ray  of  hope  for  preserving  the  Union  peaceably  expired  si 
the  asiault  ^»on  Fort  Sumter;  and  a  general  review  of  what  has  oe- 
•mrrel  since  may  not  be  unprofitable.  What  was  painfully  uncertaia 
*,her.  is  much  better  dunned  and  more  distinct  now;  and  the  progress  of 
events  is  plain ,y  in  the  right  direction.  The  insurgents  confident] t 
claimed  a  strong  support  from  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line;  and  1 
friends  of  the  Union  were  not  free  from  apprehension  on  the  poin 
This,  however,  was  soon  settled  definitely,  and  on  the  right  side.  South 
>f  the  line,  noble  little  Delaware  led  oif  right  from  the  first.  Maryland 
yas  aiHe  to  seem  against  the  Union.  Our  soldiers  were  assaulted 
bridge*  were  burned,  and  railroads  torn  up  within  her  limits;  and  ws 
ivere  -nany  days,  at  one  time,  without  the  ability  to  bring  a  single  regi- 
ment !»ver  her  soil  to  the  Capital.  Now  her  bridges  and  railroads  are 
rep>ved  and  open  to  the  Government;  she  already  gives  seven  regiment » 
to  'ne  cause  of  the  Union,  and  none  to  the  enemy;  and  her  people,  at  a 
regular  election,  have  sustained  the  Union  by  a  larger  majority  and  i 
la.rger  aggregate  vote  than  they  ever  before  gave  to  any  candidate  01 
a  ly  question.  Kentucky,  too,  for  some  time  in  doubt,  is  now  decidedly, 
a  id,  I  think,  unchangeably  ranged  on  the  side  of  the  Union.  Missouri 
if*  comparatively  quiet,  and,  I  believe,  cannot  again  be  overrun  by  the 
insurrectionists.  These  three  States  of  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and  Mis- 
twuri,  neither  of  which  would  promise  a  single  soldier  at  first,  have  now 
an  aggregate  of  not  less  than  forty  thousand  in  the  field  for  the  Union ; 
while  of  their  citizens,  certainly  not  more  than  a  third  of  that  number, 
and  they  of  doubtful  whereabouts  and  doubtful  existence,  are  in  arms 
against  it.  After  a  somewhat  bloody  struggle  of  months,  winter  closed 
on  the  Union  people  of  Western  Virginia,  leaving  them  masters  of  their 
own  country. 

An  insurgent  force  of  about  fifteen  hundred,  for  months  dominating 
the  narrow  peninsular  region  constituting  the  counties  of  Accomac  an:, 
Northampton,  and  kn  »wn  as  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia,  together  with 
soine  contiguous  parts  of  Maryland,  have  laid  down  their  arms;  and  the 
people  there  have  renewed  their  allegiance  to,  and  accepted  the  protec- 
tion of,  the  old  flag.  This  leaves  no  armed  insurrectionist  north  of  the 
Potomac,  or  east  of  the  Chesapeake. 

Also  we  have  obtained  a  footing  at  each  of  the  isolated  points  on  th* 
southern  coast  of  Hatteras,  Port  Royal,  Tybee  Island,  near  Savannah, 
and  Ship  Islaud;  and  we  likewise  have  some  general  accounts  of  popular 
movements  in  behalf  of  the  Union  in  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee. 

These  things  demonstrate  that  the  cause  of  the  Union  is  advancing 
steadily  and  certainly  southward. 

Since  your  last  adjournment  Lieuten ant-General  Scott  has  retired  frous 
the  head  of  the  army.     During  his  long  life  the  nation  has  lint  been  us 


224  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

mindful  of  his  merit ;  yet.  on  calling  to  mind  how  faithfully,  ably,  ainS 
brilliftutlj  he  has  served  the  country,  from  a  time  far  back  in  our  history  f 
when  lew  of  the  now  living  had  been  born,  and  thenceforward  contin- 
ually, I  cannot  but  think  we  are  still  his  debtors.  I  submit,  therefore,  for 
▼our  consideration  what  further  mark  of  recognition  is  due  to  him,  &nd 
to  ourselves  as  a  grateful  people. 

With  the  retirement  of  General  Scott  came  the  executive  duty  of  ap- 
pointing in  his  stead  a  general-in-chief  of  the  army.  It  is  a  fortunat 
'Mrcnm stance  that  neither  in  council  nor  country  was  there,  so  far  as 
know,  any  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  proper  person  to  be  selected 
The  retiring  chief  repeatedly  expressed  his  judgment  in  favor  of  General 
MeGlellan  for  the  position;  and  in  this  the  nation  seemed  to  give  a 
ananimous  concurrence.  The  designation  of  General  McOlellan  is,  there- 
fore, in  considerable  degree,  the  selection  of  the  country  as  well  as  of 
the  Executive;  and  hence  there  is  better  reason  to  hope  there  will  be 
given  him  the  confidence  and  cordial  support  thus,  by  fair  implication, 
promised,  and  without  which  he  cannot,  with  so  full  efficiency,  serve  the 
country. 

It  has  been  said  that  one  bad  general  is  better  than  two  good  ones ; 
and  the  saying  is  true,  if  taken  to  mean  no  more  than  that  an  army  is 
oetter  directed  by  a  single  mind,  though  inferior,  than  by  two  superior 
ones  at  variance  and  cross-purposes  with  each  other. 

And  the  same  is  true  in  all  joint  operations  wherein  those  engaged  can 
have  none  but  a  common  end  in  view,  and  can  differ  only  as  to  the  choice 
of  means.  In  a  storm  at  sea,  no  one  on  board  can  wish  the  ship  to  sink  ; 
and  yet  not  unfrequently  all  go  down  together,  because  too  many  will 
direct,  and  no  single  mind  can  be  allowed  to  control. 

It  continues  to  develop  that  the  insurrection  is  largely,  if  not  exclu- 
sively, a  war  upon  the  first  principle  of  popular  government — the  rights 
of  the  people.  Conclusive  evidence  of  this  is  found  in  the  most  grave  and 
maturely-considered,  public  documents,  as  well  as  in  the  genera  tone  01 
he  insurgents.  In  those  documents  we  find  the  abridgment  of  tie  exist 
tig  right  of  suffrage,  and  the  denial  to  the  people  of  all  right  to  partioi 
*ate  in  the  selection  of  public  officers,  except  the  legislative,  boldly 
advocated,  with  labored  arguments  to  prove  that  large  control  of  the 
people  in  government  is  the  source  of  all  political  evtl.  Monarchy  itself 
is  sometimes  hinted  at  as  a  possible  refuge  from  the  power  of  the  people. 

In  my  present  position,  I  could  scarely  be  justified  were  I  to  omit  rais- 
ing a  warning  voice  against  this  approach  of  returning  despotism. 

It  is  not  needed,  nor  fitting  here,  that  a  general  argument  should  be 
made  in  favor  of  popular  institutions;  but  there  is  one  point,  with  its 
fonnection8,  not  so  hackneyed  as  most  others,  to  which  I  ask  a  brief  at- 
tention. It  is  the  effort  to  place  capital  on  an  equal  footing  with,  if  not 
above,  labor,  in  the  atructuro  of  government.  It  is  assumed  that  labor  if 
|V3J)jiWe  9&J  in  OQim^lon  with  capital ;  tfcat  nobody  tebon  nnlm  mm* 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  225 

oody  else,  owning  capital,  scaneliow  by  the  use  of  it  induces  him  to  labor. 

This  assumed,  it  is  next  considered  whether  it  it»  best  that  capital  shal. 
hire  laborers,  and  thus  induce  them  to  work  by  their  own  consent,  or  buy 
them,  and  drive  them  to  it  without  their  consent.  Having  proceeded  bo 
far,  it  is  naturally  concluded  that  all  laborers  are  either  hired  laborers,  or 
what  we  call  slaves.  And  further,  it  is  assumed  that  whoever  is  once  a 
hired  laborer  is  fixed  in  that  condition  for  life. 

Now,  there  is  no  such  relation  between  capital  and  labor  as  assumed; 
nor  is  there  any  such  thing  as  a  free  man  being  fixed  for  life  in  the  con- 
dition of  a  hired  laborer.  Both  these  assumptions  are  false,  and  all  in  t 
ferences  from  them  are  groundless.  I 

Labor  is  prior  to  and  independent  of  capital.  Capital  is  only  the  fh.il 
of  labor,  and  could  never  have  existed  if  labor  had  not  first  existed. 
Labor  is  the  superior  of  capital,  and  deserves  much  the  higher  considera- 
tion. Capital  has  its  rights,  which  are  as  worthy  of  protection  as  any 
other  rights.  Nor  is  it  denied  that  there  is,  and  probably  always  will  be, 
a  relation  between  labor  and  capital,  producing  mutual  benefits.  The 
error  is  in  assuming  that  the  whole  labor  of  community  exists  within  that 
relation.  A  few  men  own  capital,  and  those  few  avoid  labor  themselves, 
and,  with  their  capital,  hire  or  buy  another  few  to  labor  for  them.  A 
large  raajonty  belong  to  neither  class — neither  work  for  others,  nor  have 
others  working  for  them.  In  most  of  the  Southern  States,  a  majority  of 
the  whole  people  of  all  colors  are  neither  slaves  nor  masters ;  while  in 
the  Northern,  a  large  majority  are  neither  hirers  nor  hired.  Men,  with 
their  families — wivew,  sons,  and  daughters — work  for  themselves  on  their 
farms,  in  their  houses,  and  in  their  shops,  taking  the  whole  product  to 
themselves,  and  asking  no  favors  of  capital  on  the  one  hand,  nor  of  hired 
laborers  or  slaves  on  the  other.  It  is  not  forgotten  that  a  considerable 
number  of  persons  mingle  their  own  labor  with  capital — that  is,  they 
labor  with  their  own  hands,  and  also  buy  or  hire  others  to  labor  for  them; 
but  this  is  only  a  mixed,  and  not  a  distinct  class.  No  principle  stated  is 
disturbed  by  the  existence  of  this  mixed  class. 

Again:  as  has  already  been  said,  there  is  not  of  necessity  any  such 
thing  as  the  free  hired  laborer  being  fixed  to  that  condition  for  life.  Man  ■ 
independent  men  everywhere  in  these  States,  a  few  years  back  in  th. 
lives,  were  hired  laborers.  The  prudent,  penniless  beginner  in  the  work 
labors  for  wages  a  while,  saves  a  surplus  with  which  to  buy  tools  or  "land 
for  himself,  then  labors  on  his  own  account  another  while,  and  at  length 
hires  another  new  beginner  to  help  him.  This  is  the  just,  and  generous, 
and  prosperous  system,  which  opens  the  way  to  all,  gives  hope  to  all,  and 
consequent  energy,  and  progress,  and  improvement  of  condition  to  ah. 
"No  men  living  are  more  worthy  to  be  trusted  than  those  who  toil  up  from 
poverty — none  less  inclined  to  take  or  touch  aught  which  they  have  not 
honesUy  earned.  Let  them  beware  of  surrendering  a  political  power 
which  they  already  possess,  and  which,  if  surrendered,  will  surely  be  nsed 
1» 


--5  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

ro  close  tne  door  of  advancement  against  such  as  they,  and  to  fix   .ew  (lis 
Abilities  and  burdens  upon  them,  till  all  of  liberty  shall  be  lost. 

From  the  tirst  taking  of  our  national  census  to  the  last  are  seventy 
years ;  and  we  find  our  population,  at  tho  end  of  the  period,  eight  times 
is  great  as  it  was  at  the  beginning.  The  increase  of  those  other  things 
which  men  deem  desirable  has  been  even  greater.  We  thus  have,  at  one 
view,  what  the  popular  principle,  applied  to  Government  through  the 
machinery  of  the  States  and  the  Union,  has  produced  in  a  given  time; 
and  also  what,  if  firmly  maintained,  it  promises  for  the  future.  There 
are  already  among  us  those  who,  if  the  Union  bo  preserved,  will  live  to 
see  it  contain  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions.  The  struggle  of  to-day  is 
uot  altogether  for  to-day  ;  it  is  for  a  vast  future  also.  With  a  reliance  on 
Providence,  all  the  more  firm  and  earnest,  let  us  proceed  in  the  great  task 
which  events  have  devolved  upon  us.  Abraham  Lincoln. 

The  actual  condition  of  the  country  and  the  progress 
of  the  war,  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  are  very  clearly 
stated  in  this  document ;  and  the  principles  upon  which 
the  President  had  based  his  conduct  of  public  affairs  are 
set  forth  with  great  distinctness  and  precision.  On  the 
subject  of  interfering  with  slavery,  the  President  had 
adhered  strictly  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  act  passed 
by  Congress  at  its  extra  session  ;  but  he  very  distinctly 
foresaw  that  it  might  become  necessary,  as  a  means  of 
quelling  the  rebellion  and  preserving  the  Union,  to  resort 
to  a  much  more  vigorous  policy  than  was  contemplated 
by  that  act.  While  he  threw  out  a  timely  caution  against 
andue  haste  in  the  adoption  of  extreme  measures,  he 
promised  full  and  careful  consideration  of  any  new  law 
which  Congress  might  consider  it  wise  and  expedient  to 
pass 

]  It  very  soon  became  evident  that  Congress  was  dis- 
\  >sed  to  make  very  considerable  advances  upon  the 
legislation  of  the  extra  session.  The  resistance  of  the 
rebels  had  been  more  vigorous  and  effective  than  was 
anticipated,  and  the  defeat  at  Bull  Hun  had  exasperated 
as  well  as  aroused  the  public  mind.  The  forbearance  of 
the  Government  in  regard  to  slavery  had  not  only  failed 
to  soften  the  hostility  of  the  rebels,  but  had  been  rep- 
resented to  Europe  by  the  rejbel  authorities  as  proving 
*  determination  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  protect 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  227 

and  perpetuate  slavery  by  restoring  the  authority  of  the 
Constitution  which  guaranteed  its  safety  ;  and  the  acts  of 
the  extra  session,  especially  the  Crittenden  resolution, 
defining  and  limiting  the  objects  of  the  war,  were  quoted 
in  rebel  dispatches  to  England  for  that  purpose.  It  was 
known,  also,  that  within  the  lines  of  the  rebel  army  slaves 
were  freely  employed  in  the  construction  of  fortifications, 
and  that  they  contributed  in  this  and  other  ways  vary 
largely  to  the  strength  of  the  insurrection.  The  whole 
country,  under  the  influence  of  these  facts,  began  to  re- 
gard slavery  as  not  only  the  cause  of  the  rebellion,  but 
as  the  main  strength  of  its  armies  and  the  bond  of  union 
for  the  rebel  forces ; — and  Congress,  representing  and 
sharing  this  feeling,  entered  promptly  and  zealously  upon 
such  measures  as  it  would  naturally  suggest.  Resolu- 
tions at  the  very  outset  of  the  session  were  offered,  call 
ing  on  the  President  to  emancipate  slaves  whenever  and 
wherever  such  action  would  tend  to  weaken  the  rebel- 
lion ;  and  the  general  policy  of  the  Government  upon  thi3 
subject  became  the  theme  of  protracted  and  animated 
debate.  The  orders  issued  by  the  generals  of  the  army, 
especially  McClellan,  Halleck,  and  Dix,  by  which  fugi- 
tive slaves  were  prohibited  from  coming  within  the  army 
lines,  were  severely  censured.  All  the  resolutions  upon 
these  topics  were,  however,  referred  to  appropriate  com- 
mittees, generally  without  specific  instructions  as  to  the 
character  of  their  action  upon  them. 

Early  in  the  session  a  strong  disposition  was  evinced  in 
^some  quarters  to  censure  the  Government  for  its  arbitrary 
arrests  of  persons  in  the  loyal  States,  suspected  of  aiding 
the  rebels,  its  suppression  of  disloyal  presses,  and  other 
acts  which  it  had  deemed  essential  to  the  safety  of  the 
country  ;  and  a  sharp  debate  took  place  in  the  Senate 
upon  a  resolution  of  inquiry  and  implied  censure  offered 
by  Mr.  Trumbull,  of  Illinois.  The  general  feeling,  how- 
ever, was  so  decidedly  in  favor  of  sustaining  the  Presi- 
dent, that  the  resolution  was  referred  to  the  Judiciary 
Committee,  by  a  vote  of  twenty-five  to  seventeen. 

On  the  19th  of  December,  in  the  Senate,  a  debate  on 


228  The  Life,  Public  Services,  axd 

the  relation  of  slavery  to  the  rebellion  arose  upon  a  reso- 
lution offered  by  Mr.  Willey,  of  West  Virginia,,  who  con- 
tested the  opinion  that  slavery  was  the  cause  of  the  war, 
and  insisted  that  the  rebellion  had  its  origin  in  the 
hostility  of  the  Southern  political  leaders  to  the  demo- 
cratic principle  of  government ;  he  believed  that  when 
the  great  body  of  the  Southern  people  came  to  see  the 
real  purpose  and  aim  of  the  rebellion,  they  would  with* 
draw  their  surjport,  and 'restore  the  Union.  No  action 
was  taken  on  the  resolution,  which  merely  gave  occasion 
for  debate.  A  resolution  was  adopted  in  the  House, 
forbidding  the  employment  of  the  army  to  return  fugitive 
slaves  to  their  owners ;  and  a  bill  was  passed  in  both 
Houses,  declaring  that  hereafter  there  shall  be  "  neither 
slavery  norinvoluntary  servitude  in  any  of  the  Territories 
of  the  United  States,  now  existing,  or  which  may  at  any 
time  be  formed  or  acquired  by  the  United  States,  other- 
wise than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the  party 
shall  have  been  duly  convicted." 

In  the  Senate,  on  the  18th  of  March,  a  bill  was  taken 
up  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia ;  and 
an  amendment  was  offered,  directing  that  those  thus  set 
free  should  be  colonized  out  of  the  United  States.  The 
policy  of  colonization  was  fully  discussed  in  connection 
with  the  general  subject,  the  senators  from  the  Border 
States  opposing  the  bill  itself,  mainly  on  grounds  of 
expediency,  as  calculated  to  do  harm  under  the  existing 
circumstances  of  the  country.  The  bill  was  passed,  with 
an  amendment  appropriating  money  to  be  used  by  the 
President  in  colonizing  such  of  the  emancipated  slaves 
as  might  wish  to  leave  the  country.  It  received  in  the 
Senate  twenty-nine  votes  in  its  favor  and  fourteen 
against  it.  In  the  House  it  passed  by  a  vote  of  nine- 
two  to  thirty-eight. 

President  Lincoln  sent  in  the  following  message,  an- 
nouncing  his  approval  of  the  bill : — 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate  axd  House  o^  Representatives. 
The  act  entitled  ''An  act   for  the  release  of  certain  persons  held  to 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  229 

service  or  labor  in  the  District  of  Columbia,"  has  this  day  beea  approved 
and  signed. 

I  have  never  doubted  the  constitutional  authority  of  Congress  to  abol- 
ish slavery  in  this  District ;  and  I  have  ever  desired  to  see  the  national 
capital  freed  from  the  institution  in  some  satisfactory  way.  Hence  there 
has  never  been  in  my  mind  any  question  upon  the  subject  except  the  one 
of  expediency,  arising  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances.  If  there  be  mat- 
ters withm  and  about  this  act  which  might  have  taken  a  course  or  shape 
more  satisfactory  to  my  judgment,  I  do  not  attempt  to  specify  them.  1 
am  gratified  that  the  two  principles  of  compensation  and  colonization  are 
both  recognized  and  practically  applied  in  the  act. 

In  the  matter  of  compensation,  it  is  provided  that  claims  may  be  pre- 
sented within  ninety  days  from  the  passage  of  the  act,  "  but  not  there- 
after ;  "  and  there  is  no  saving  for  minors,  fernmes  covert,  insane,  or  absent 
persons.  I  presume  this  is  an  omission  by  mere  oversight,  and  I  recom- 
mend that  it  be  supplied  by  an  amendatory  or  supplemental  act. 

Abbaham  Lincoln. 

April  16,  1862. 

On  the  6tli  of  March,  the  President  sent  to  Congress 
the  following  message  on  the  subject  of  aiding  such 
slaveholding  States  as  might  take  measures  to  emancipate 
their  slaves : 

Washington,  Afar  oh  6,  1862. 
Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution  by  your  honorable 
body,  which  shall  be,  substantially,  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  the  United  States,  in  order  to  co-operate  with  any  State 
which  may  adopt  gradual  abolition  of  slavery,  give  to  such  State  pecu- 
niary aid,  to  be  used  by  such  State,  in  its  discretion,  to  compensate  it  for 
the  inconvenience,  public  and  private,  produced  by  such  change  of  sys- 
tem. 

If  the  proposition  contained  in  the  resolution  does  not  meet  the  ap- 
proval of  Congress  and  the  country,  there  is  an  end  of  it.  But  if  it  does 
command  such  approval,  I  deem  it  of  importance  that  the  States  and 
people  immediately  interested  should  be  at  once  distinctly  notified  of  the 
fact,  so  that  they  may  begin  to  consider  whether  to  accept  or  reject  it. 

The  Federal  Government  would  find  its  highest  interest  in  such  a  meas- 
ure as  one  of  the  most  important  means  of  self-preservation.  The  lead- 
ers of  the  existing  rebellion  entertain  the  hope  that  this  Government  will 
ultimately  be  forced  to  acknowledge  the  independence  of  some  part  of 
the  disaffected  region,  and  that  all  the  slave  States  north  of  such  p.vt 
will  then  say,  "The  Union  for  which  we  have  struggled  being  alr-;i<iv 
gone,  we  bow  choose  to  go  with  the  Southern  section,"    Xq  frpritt 


230  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

them  of  this  Lope  substantially  ends  Hie  rebellion;  and  the  initiation  o! 
emancipation  deprives  them  of  it,  and  of  all  the  States  initiating  it. 

The  point  is  not  that  all  the  States  t  derating  slavery  would  very  soon, 
if  at  all,  initiate  emancipation;  but  wHle  the  offer  is  equally  made  to  all, 
the  more  Northern  shall,  by  such  in  tiation,  make  it  certain  to  the  more 
Southern  that  in  no  event  will  the  former  ever  join  the  latter  in  their 
proposed  Confederacy.  I  say  initiation,  because,  in  my  judgment,  gral 
ual  and  not  sudden  emancipation  is  better  for  all. 

In  the  mere  financial  or  pecuniary  view,  any  member  of  Congress  wit 
the  census  or  an  abstract  of  the  Treasury  report  before  him,  can  readil? 
see  for  himself  how  very  soon  the  current  expenditures  of  this  war  wouio 
purchase,  at  a  fair  valuation,  all  the  slaves  in  any  named  State. 

Such  a  proposition  on  the  part  of  the  General  Government  sets  up  no 
claim  of  a  right,  by  the  Federal  authority  to  interfere  with  slavery  withir 
State  limits — referring  as  it  does  the  absolute  control  of  the  subject,  ir 
each  case,  to  the  State  and  the  people  immediately  interested.  It  is  pro 
posed  as  a  matter  of  perfectly  free  choice  to  them. 

In  the  Annual  Message  last  December,  I  thought  fit  to  say  "  the  Unioi 
must  be  preserved,  and  hence  all  indispensable  means  must  be  employed.1 
I  said  this,  not  hastily,  but  deliberately.  War  has  been  made,  and  con 
tinues  to  be  an  indispensable  means  to  this  end.  A  practical  reacknowl 
edgment  of  the  national  authority  would  render  the  war  unnecessary, 
and  it  would  at  once  cease.  But  resistance  continues,  and  the  war  must 
also  continue ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  all  the  incidents  which  may 
attend,  and  all  the  ruin  which  may  follow  it.  Such  as  may  seem  indis- 
pensable, or  may  obviously  promise  great  efficiency  towards  ending  tho 
struggle,  must  and  will  come. 

The  proposition  now  made  (though  an  offer  only),  I  hope  it  may  be  es- 
teemed no  offence  to  ask  whether  the  pecuniary  consideration  tendered 
would  not  be  of  more  value  to  the  States  and  private  persons  concerned 
tian  would  the  institution  and  property  in  it,  in  the  present  aspect  of 
uffairs.  While  it  is  true  that  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  resolutior. 
ivould  be  merely  initiatory,  and  not  within  itself  a  practical  measure,  it 
is  recommended  in  the  hope  that  it  would  lead  to  important  practical 
results. 

In  full  view  of  my  great  responsibility  to  my  God  and  my  country,  I 
earnestly  beg  the  attention  of  Congress  and  the  people  to  the  subject. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 

This  Message  indicates  very  clearly  the  tendency  of  the 
President's  reflections  upon  the  general  relations  of 
slavery  to  the  rebellion.  He  had  most  earnestly  endeav- 
ored to  arouse  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  to  a 
contemplation  of  the  fact  that,  if  they  persisted  in  their 
effort  to  overthrow  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lijsooln  231 

{lie  fate  of  slavery  would  sooner  or  later  inevita]  be  in- 
volved in  the  conflict.  The  time  was  steadily  a;  oroaeh- 
ing  when,  in  consequence  of  their  obstinate  persistence  in 
the  rebellion,  this  result  would  follow  ;  and  the  President, 
with  wise  forethought,  sought  anxiously  to  reconcile  the 
shock  which  the  contest  would  involve,  with  the  order  of 
the  country  and  the  permanent  prosperity  of  ail  classes  of 
the  people.  The  general  feeling  of  the  country  at  that 
time  was  in  harmony  with  this -endeavor.  The  people 
were  still  disposed  to  exhaust  every  means  which  justice 
would  sanction,  to  withdraw  the  people  of  the  Southern 
States  from  the  disastrous  war  into  which  they  had  been 
plunged  by  their  leaders,  and  they  welcomed  this  sugges- 
tion of  the  President  as  likely  to  produce  that  result,  ii 
any  effort  in  that  direction  could. 

In  pursuance  of  the  recommendation  of  the  Message, 
Mr.  R.  Conkling,  of  New  York,  introduced,  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  on  the  10th  of  March,  the  following 
resolution  : — 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  in  Congress  assembled.  That  the  United  States  ought  to  co-operato 
with  any  State  which  may  adopt  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery,  giviug 
to  such  State  pecuniary  aid,  to  be  used  by  such  State  in  its  discretion,  to 
compensate  for  the  inconveniences,  public  and  private,  produced  by  such 
a  change  of  system. 

The  debate  on  this  resolution  illustrated  the  feelings  of 
the  country  on  the  subject.  It  was  vehemently  opposed 
by  the  sympathizers  with  secession  from  both  sections,  as 
an  unconstitutional  interference  with  slavery;  and  hesita- 
tingly supported  by  the  anti-slavery  men  of  the  North,  as 
less  decided  in  its  hostility  than  they  had  a  right  to  ex- 
pect. The  sentiment  of  the  more  moderate  portion  of  the 
community  was  expressed  by  Mr.  Fisher,  of  Delaware, 
who  regarded  it  as  an  olive-branch  of  peace  and  harmony 
and  good  faith  presented  by  the  North,  and  as  well  calcu- 
lated to  bring  about  a  peaceful  solution  and  settlement  of 
the  slavery  question.  It  was  adopted  in  the  House  by  a 
vote  of  eighty-nine  to  thirty-one.     Coming  up  in  the 


232  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

Senate  on  the  24th  of  March,  it  was  denounced  in  strong 
terms  by  Mr.  Saulsbury,  of  Delaware,  and  others—Mr, 
Davis,  of  Kentucky,  opposing  the  terms  in  which  it  waa 
couched,  but  approving  its  general  tenor.  It  subse- 
quently passed,  receiving  thirty-two  votes  in  its  favor, 
and  but  ten  against  it.  This  resolution  was  approved  by 
the  President  on  the  10th  of  April.  It  was  generally  re- 
garded by  the  people  and  by  the  President  himseif  as 
rather  an  experiment  than  as  a  fixed  policy — as  intended 
to  test  the  temper  of  the  people  of  the  Southern  States.. 
and  offer  them  a  way  of  escape  from  the  evils  and  embar 
rassments  with  which  slavery  had  surrounded  them, 
rather  than  set  forth  a  distinct  line  of  conduct  which  was 
to  be  pressed  upon  the  country  at  all  hazards.  This  char- 
acter, indeed,  was  stamped  upon  it  by  the  fact  that  its 
practical  execution  was  made  to  depend  wholly  on  the 
people  of  the  Southern  States  themselves.  It  recognized 
their  complete  control  over  slavery,  within  their  own 
limits,  and  simply  tendered  them  the  aid  of  the  General 
Government  in  any  steps  they  might  feel  inclined  to  take 
to  rid  themselves  of  it. 

The  President  was  resolved  that  the  experiment  should 
have  a  full  and  a  fair  trial ;  and  while  he  would  not,  on 
the  one  hand,  permit  its  effect  to  be  impaired  by  the  nat- 
ural impatience  of  those  among  his  friends  who  were 
warmest  and  most  extreme  in  their  hostility  to  slavery, 
he,  on  the  other  hand,  lost  no  opportunity  to  press  the 
proposition  on  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  people 
of  the  Border  Slave  States. 

On  the  9th  of  May,  General  Hunter,  who  commanded 
the  Departn  ent  of  South  Carolina,  which  included  also 
the  States  of  Georgia  and  Florida,  issued  an  order  declar- 
ing all  the  slaves  within  that  department  to  be  thence 
forth  and  "  forever  free."  This  was  done,  not  from  any 
alleged  military  necessity  growing  out  of  the  operations 
in  his  department,  but  upon  a  theoretical  incompatibilitv 
between  slavery  and  martial  law.  The  President  there 
upon  at  once  issued  the  fM lowing  proclamation  :— 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  233 

Whereas,  There  appears  in  the  public  prints  what  purports  to  be  a 
proclamation  of  Major-General  Hunter,  in  the  words  and  figures  follow- 
ing : — 

Head-Quarteks  Department  of  tiie  8octh,     ♦ 
Hilton  Head,  8.  C,  May  9,  1862.         f 
General  Order,  N~o.  11. 

The  three  States  of  Georgia,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina,  comprising 
•he  Military  Department  of  the  South,  having  deliberately  declared  them- 
selves no  longer  under  the  United  States  of  America,  and  having  taken 
ap  arms  against  the  United  States,  it  becomes  a  military  necessity  to  de 
clare  them  under  martial  law. 

This  was  accordingly  done  on  the  25th  day  of  April,  1862.  Slavery  and 
martial  law  in  a  free  country  are  altogether  incompatible.  The  persons 
in  these  States — Georgia,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina — heretofore  held 
as  slaves,  are  therefore  declared  forever  free. 

[Official.] 

Signed,  David  Hunter, 

Major-General  Commanding. 

Ed.  TV.  Smith,  Acting  Assistant  Adj't-General. 

And,  whereas,  the  same  is  producing  some  excitement  and  misunder- 
standing, therefore  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States, 
proclaim  and  declare  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  had  no 
knowledge  or  belief  of  an  intention  on  the  part  of  General  Hunter  to  is- 
aue  such  proclamation,  nor  has  it  yet  any  authentic  information  that  the 
document  is  genuine ;  and,  further,  that  neither  General  Hunter  nor  anv 
other  commander  or  person  has  been  authorized  by  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  to  make  proclamation  declaring  the  slaves  of  any  State 
free,  and  that  the  supposed  proclamation  now  in  question,  whether  genu- 
ine or  false,  is  altogether  void  so  far  as  respects  such  declaration.  I  fur- 
ther make  known  that,  whether  it  be  competent  for  me,  as  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  to  declare  the  slaves  of  any  State  or 
States  free  ;  and  whether  at  any  time,  or  in  any  case,  it  shall  have  become 
a  necessity  indispensable  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Government  to  exer- 
cise such  supposed  power,  are  questions  which,  under  my  responsibility, 
i  reserve  |o  myself,  and  which  I  cannot  feel  justified  in  leaving  to  the  de- 
cision of  ccjimanders  in  the  field. 

These  are  totally  different  questions  from  those  of  police  regulations  is 
armies  01  in  camps. 

On  the  sixth  day  of  March  last,  by  a  special  Message,  I  recommended 
to  Ckngress  the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution,  to  be  substantially  as 
follows : — 

Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  co-operate  with  any  State 
which  may  adopt  a  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery,  giving  to  such  State 
earnest  expression  to  compensate  for  its  inconveniences,  public  and  pri- 
vate, produced  by  such  change  of  system. 

The  resolution  in  the  language  above  quoted  was  adopted  by  large  ma- 
jorities in  both  branches  of  Congress,  and  now  stands  an  authentic,  defi 
nite,  ar.l  solemn  proposal  ~*  tha  *JsMon  to  the  States  and  people  most  ir 


234  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

terested  in  the  subject-matter.  To  the  people  of  these  States  now,  I 
mostly  appeal.  I  do  not  argue — I  heaeech  you  to  make  the  arguments 
for  yourselves.  You  cannot,  if  you  would,  be  blind  to  the  signs  of  the 
times. 

I  beg  of  you  a  calm  and  enlarged  consideration  of  them,  ranging,  if  it 
may  be,  far  above  partisan  and  personal  politics. 

This  proposal  makes  common  cause  for  a  common  object,  casting  no 
reproaches  upon  any.  It  acts  not  the  Pharisee.  The  change  it  contem 
plates  would  come  gently  as  the  dews  of  Heaven,  not  rending  or  wreck 
ing  any  thing.  Will  you  not  embrace  it?  So  much  good  has  not  been 
done  by  one  effort  in  all  past  time,  as  in  the  providence  of  God  it  is  now 
your  high  privilege  to  do.  May  the  vast  future  not  have  to  lament  that 
you  have  neglected  it. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  tue  seal 
of  the  United  States  to  be  hereunto  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  1 9th  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty -two,  and  of  the  inde- 
pendence cf  the  United  States  the  eighty-sixth. 
(Signed)  Abraham  Lingo m. 

By  the  President : 

W.  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State. 

This  proclamation  silenced  the  clamorous  denunciation 
by  which  its  enemies  had  assailed  the  Administration  on 
the  strength  of  General  Hunter's  order,  and  renewed  the 
confidence,  which  for  the  moment  had  been  somewhat 
impaired,  in  the  President's  adherence  to  the  principles 
of  action  he  had  laid  down.  Nothing  practical,  however, 
was  done  in  any  of  the  Border  States  indicating  any  dis- 
position to  act  upon  his  suggestions  and  avail  themselves 
of  the  aid  which  Congress  had  offered.  The  members  of 
Congress  from  those  States  had  taken  no  steps  towards 
inducing  action  in  regard  to  it  on  the  part  of  their  con 
stituents.  Feeling  the  deepest  interest  in  the  adoption 
of  some  measure  which  should  permanently  detach  the 
Border  Slave  States  from  the  rebel  Confederacy,  and 
believing  that  the  plan  he  had  recommended  would  tend 
to  accomplish  that  object,  President  Lincoln  sought  a 
conference  with  the  members  of  Congress  from  those 
States,  and  on  the  12th  of  July,  when  they  waited  upon 
him  at  the  Executive  mansion,  he  addressed  them  as 
follows  • — 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  235 

Gentlemen: — After  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  now  near,  I  shaL 
lave  no  opportunity  of  seeing  yon  fur  several  months.  Believing  that 
vou  of  the  Border  States  hold  more  power  for  good  than  any  other  equal 
number  of  members,  I  feel  it  a  duty  which  I  cannot  justifiably  waive  to 
make  this  appeal  to  you. 

I  iutend  no  reproach  or  complaint  when  I  assure  you  that,  in  my  opin- 
ion, if  you  all  had  voted  for  the  resolution  in  the  gradual  emancipation 
Message  of  last  March,  the  war  would  now  be  substantially  ended.  And- 
the  plan  therein  proposed  is  yet  one  of  the  most  potent  and  swift  means 
of  ending  it.  Let  the  States  which  are  in  rebellion  see  definitely  and  cer- 
tainly that  in  no  event  will  the  States  you  represent  ever  join  their  pro- 
posed Confederacy,  and  they  cannot  much  longer  maintain  the  contest. 
But  you  cannot  divest  them  of  their  hope  to  ultimately  have  you  with 
them  so  long  as  you  show  a  determination  to  perpetuate  the  institution 
within  your  own  States.  Beat  them  at  elections,  as  you  have  over- 
«  helmingly  done,  and,  nothing  daunted,  they  still  claim  you  as  their  own. 
Vou  and  I  know  wrhat  the  lever  of  their  power  is.  Break  that  lever 
before  their  faces,  and  they  can  shake  you  no  more  forever. 

Most  of  you  have  treated  me  with  kindness  and  consideration,  and  I 
trust  you  will  not  now  think  I  improperly  touch  what  is  exclusively  your 
own,  when,  for  the  sake  of  the  whole  country,  I  ask,  Can  you,  for  your 
States,  do  better  than  to  take  the  course  I  urge  ?  Discarding  punctilio 
and  maxims  adapted  to  more  manageable  times,  and  looking  only  to  the 
unprecedentedly  stern  facts  of  our  case,  can  you  do  better  in  any  possible 
event  ?  You  prefer  that  the  constitutional  relation  of  the  States  to  the 
nation  shall  be  practically  restored  without  disturbance  of  the  institution : 
and  if  this  were  done,  my  whole  duty,  in  this  respect,  under  the  Consti- 
tution and  my  oath  of  office,  would  be  performed.  But  it  is  not  done, 
and  we  are  trying  to  accomplish  it  by  war.  The  incidents  of  the  war 
cannot  be  avoided.  If  the  war  continues  long,  as  it  must  if  the  object  be 
not  sooner  attained,  the  institution  in  your  States  will  be  extinguished  by 
mere  friction  and  abrasion — by  the  mere  incidents  of  the  war.  It  will  be 
js.no,  and  you  will  have  nothing  valuable  in  lieu  of  it.  Much  of  its  value 
is  gone  already.  How  much  better  for  you  and  for  your  people  to  take 
the  step  which  at  once  shortens  the  war,  and  secures  substantial  compen- 
sation for  that  which  is  sure  to  be  wholly  lost  in  any  other  event!  How 
much  better  to  thus  save  the  money  which  else  we  sink  forever  in  the 
war!  How  much  better  to  do  it  while  we  can,  lest  the  war  ere  long 
render  us  pecuniarily  unable  to  do  it!  How  much  better  for  you,  as 
seller,  and  the  nation,  as  buyer,  to  sell  out  and  buy  out  that  without 
which  the  war  could  never  have  been,  than  to  sink  both  the  thing  to  be 
sold  aud  the  price  of  it  in  cutting  one  another's  throats  ! 

I  do  not  speak  of  emancipation  at  once,  but  of  a  decision  at  once  to 
emancipate  gradually.  Room  in  South  America  for  colonization  can  be 
obtained  cheaply,  and  in  abi.ndance,  and  when  numbers  shall  be  largo 


236  The  Life,  Public  Services,  ani> 

enough  to  be  company  and  encouragement  for  one  another,  the  freei 
people  will  not  be  so  reluctant  to  go. 

1  am  pressed  with  a  difficulty  not  yet  mentioned — one  which  threatens 
division  among  those  who,  united,  are  none  too  strong.  An  instance  of 
it  is  known  to  you.  General  Hunter  is  an  honest  man.  He  was,  «*nd  J 
ho]3  e  still  is,  my  friend.  I  valued  him  none  the  less  for  his  agreeing  wvJ? 
me  in  the  general  wish  that  all  men  everywhere  could  be  free.  He  pro- 
canned  all  men  free  within  certain  States,  and  I  repudiated  the  procla- 
mation.  He  expected  more  good  and  less  harm  from  the  measure  than  I 
could  believe  would  follow.  Yet,  in  repudiating  it,  I  gave  dissatisfaction, 
if  not  offence,  to  many  whose  support  the  country  cannot  afford  to  lose. 
And  this  is  not  the  end  of  it.  The  pressure  in  this  direction  is  still  upon 
me,  and  is  increasing.  By  conceding  what  I  now  ask  you  can  relieve  me, 
and,  much  more,  can  relieve  the  country  in  this  important  point. 

Upon  these  considerations,  I  have  again  begged  your  attention  to  the 
Message  of  March  last.  Before  leaving-  the  Capital,  consider  and  discuss 
it  among  yourselves.  You  are  patriots  and  statesmen,  and  as  such  I  pray 
you  consider  this  proposition;  and,  at  the  least,  commend  it  to  the  con- 
sideration of  your  States  and  people.  As  you  would  perpetuate  popular 
government  for  the  best  people  in  the  world,  I  beseech  you  that  you  do 
in  nowise  omit  this.  Our  common  country  is  in  great  peril,  demanding 
the  loftiest  views  and  boldest  action  to  bring  a  speedy  relief.  Once 
relieved,  its  form  of  government  is  saved  to  the  world;  its  beloved  his- 
tory and  cherished  memories  are  vindicated,  and  its  happy  future  fully 
assured  and  rendered  inconceivably  grand.  To  you,  more  than  to  any 
others,  the  privilege  is  given  to  assure  that  happiness  and  swell  that 
grandeur,  and  to  link  your  own  names  therewith  forever. 

The  members  to  whom  the  President  thus  appealed 
were  divided  in  opinion  as  to  the  merits  of  the  proposi- 
tion which  he  had  laid  before  them.  A  majority  of  their, 
submitted  an  elaborate  reply,  in  which  they  dissented 
from  the  President's  opinion  that  the  adoption  of  this 
policy'  would  terminate  the  war  or  serve  the  Union  cause. 
They  held  it  to  be  his  duty  to  avoid  all  interference, 
direct  or  indirect,  with  slavery  in  the  Southern  States, 
and  attributed  much  of  the  stubborn  hostility  which  the 
South  had  shown  in  prosecuting  the  war,  to  the  fact  that 
Congress  had  departed  in  various  instances  from  thp 
Bpirit  and  objects  for  which  the  war  ought  to  be  prose- 
cuted by  the  Government.  A  minority  of  those  mem- 
bers, not  being  able  to  concur  in  this  reply,  submitted 
one  of  their  own,  in  which  they  thus  set  forth  their  view 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  237 

of  the  motives  of  the  President  in  the  course  he  had 
adopted,  and  expressed  their  substantial  concurrence  in 
its  justice  and  wisdom  : — 

\Ve  believe  that  the  whole  power  o'  the  Government,  upheld  and  sus- 
tained by  all  the  influences  and  means  of  all  loyal  men  in  all  sections  and 
of  all  parties,  is  essentially  necessary  to  put  down  the  rebellion  and  preserve 
the  Union  and  the  Constitution.  We  understand  your  appeal  to  us  to 
have  been  made  for  the  purpose  of  securing  this  result.  A  very  large 
portion  of  the  people  in  the  Northern  States  believe  that  slavery  is  Ik* 
"lever  power  of  the  rebellion."  It  matters  not  whether  this  opinio1  j 
is  well  founded  or  not.  The  belief  does  exist,  and  we  have  to  deal  with 
things  as  they  are,  and  not  as  we  would  have  them  be.  In  consequence 
of  the  existence  of  this  belief,  we  understand  that  an  immense  pressure  is 
brought  to  bear  for  the  purpose  of  striking  down  this  institution  through 
the  exercise  of  military  authority.  The  Government  cannot  maintain 
this  great  struggle  if  the  support  and  influence  of  the  men  who  entertain 
these  opinions  be  withdrawn.  Neither  can  the  Government  hope  for 
early  success  if  the  support  of  that  element  called  u  conservative "  bt 
h  ithdrawn. 

Such  being  the  condition  of  things,  the  President  appeals  to  the  Bordei 
Stato  men  to  step  forward  and  prove  their  patriotism  by  making  the  first 
sacrifice.  No  doubt,  like  appeals  have  been  made  to  extreme  men  in  the 
North,  to  meet  us  half  way,  in  order  that  the  whole  moral,  political, 
pecuniary,  and  physical  force  of  the  nation  may  be  firmly  and  earnestly 
united  in  one  grand  effort  to  save  the  Union  and  the  Constitution. 

Believing  that  such  were  the  motives  that  prompted  your  address,  and 
such  the  results  to  which  it  looked,  we  cannot  reconcile  it  to  our  sense  of 
duty,  in  this  trying  hour,  to  respond  in  a  spirit  of  fault-finding  or  queru- 
lousness  over  the  things  that  are  past.  We  are  not  disposed  to  seek  for 
the  cause  of  present  misfortunes  in  the  errors  and  wrongs  of  others  who 
propose  to  unite  with  us  in  a  common  purpose.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  meet  your  address  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  made,  and,  as  loyal 
Americans,  declare  to  you  and  to  the  world,  that  there  is  no  sacrifice  that 
we  are  not  ready  to  make  to  save  the  Government  and  institutions  of  our 
fathers.  That  we,  few  of  us  though  there  may  be,  will  permit  no  men, 
f~om  the  North  or  from  the  South,  to  £0  further  than  we  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  great  work  before  us.  That,  in  order  to  carry  out  these 
views,  we  will,  so  far  as  may  be  in  our  power,  ask  the  people  of  the  Bor- 
der States  calmly,  deliberately,  and  fairly,  to  consider  your  recommenda- 
tions. We  are  the  more  emboldened  to  assume  this  position  from  the 
fact,  now  become  history,  that  the  leaders  of  the  Southern  rebellion  have 
offered  to  abolish  slavery  amongst  them  as  a  condition  to  foreign  inter- 
vention in  favor  of  their  independence  as  a  nation. 
If  they  can  give  ui>  nl^very  *o  destroy  the  Union,    re  can  surolj 


238  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

ask  our  people  to  consider  the  question  of  emancipation  to  save  the 
Union. 

Hon.  Horace  Maynard,  of  Tennessee,  on  the  16th  of 
J  illy  submitted  to  the  President  his  views  of  the  ques- 
tion, in  which  he  thus  set  forth  his  appreciation  of  the 
motives  which  had  induced  him  to  make  the  proposition 
ic  question  to  the  Southern  States  : — 

Your  whole  administration  gives  the  highest  assurance  that  you  are 
moved,  not  so  much  from  a  desire  to  see  all  men  everywhere  made  free, 
as  from  a  desire  to  preserve  free  institutions  for  the  benefit  of  men 
already  free ;  not  to  make  slaves  free  men,  but  to  prevent  free  men  from 
being  made  slaves;  not  to  destroy  an  institution  which  a  portion  of  us 
only  consider  bad,  but  to  save  an  institution  which  we  all  alike  consider 
good.  I  am  satisfied  that  you  would  not  ask  from  any  of  your  fellow- 
citizens  a  sacrifice  not  in  your  judgment  imperatively  required  by  the 
safety  of  the  country.  This  is  the  spirit  of  your  appeal,  and  I  respond  to 
it  in  the  same  spirit. 

Determined  to  leave  undone  nothing  which  it  was  in 
his  power  to  do  to  effect  the  object  he  had  so  much  at 
heart,  the  President,  on  the  12th  of  July,  sent  in  to  Con- 
gress a  Message  transmitting  the  draft  of  a  bill  upon  the 
subject,  as  follows  :— 

Fellow- Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives : — 

Herewith  is  the  draft  of  the  bill  to  compensate  any  State  which  may 
abolish  slavery  within  its  limits,  the  passage  of  which,  substantially  a» 
presented,  I  respectfully  and  earnestly  recommend. 

Abkaham  Lincoln. 

be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  Home  of  Representatives  of  the  Umtea 
States  of  Avierica  in  Congress  assembled: — That  whenever  the  President 
of  the  United  States  shall  be  satisfied  that  any  State  shall  have  lawfully 
abolished  slavery  within  and  throughout  such  State,  either  immediately 
i»T  gradually,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President,  assisted  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  to  prepare  and  deliver  to  each  State  an  amount  of 
fcix  per  cent,  interest-bearing  bonds  of  the  United  States,  equal  to  the  ag- 
gregate value  at dollars  per  head  of  all  the  slaves  within  such  State 

as  reported  by  the  census  of  1860;  the  whole  amount  for  any  one  State 
to  be  delivered  at  once,  if  the  abolishment  be  immediate,  or  in  equal 
anuual  instalments,  if  it  be  gradual,  interest  to  begin  running  on  each 
bond  at  the  time  of  delivery,  and  not  before. 

And  be  it  farther  enacted,  That  if  any  State,  having  so  received  anv 
such  bonds,  shall  at  any  time  afterwards  by  law  reintroduce  or  tolerate 
slavery  within  its  limits,  contrary  to  the  act  of  abolishment  upon  which 
tuch  bonds  shall  have  been  received,  said  bonds  so  received  by  said  State 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  239 

shall  at  once  "be  mill  and  void,  in  whosesoever  hands  they  may  be,  and  such 
State  shall  refund  to  the  United  States  all  interest  which  may  have  been 
paid  on  suc/i  bonds. 

The  bill  was  referred  to  a  committee,  "but  no  action  wag 
taken  upon  it  in  Congress,  nor  did  any  of  the  Border 
States  respond  to  the  President's  invitation.  The  propo- 
sition, however,  served  a  most  excellent  purpose  in  test 
klg  the  sentiment  of  "both  sections  of  the  country,  and  in 
preparing  the  way  for  the  more  vigorous  treatment  of  the 
subject  of  slavery  which  the  blind  and  stubborn  preju- 
dices of  the  slaveholding  communities  were  rapidly  ren- 
dering inevitable. 

Two  other  subjects  of  importance  engaged  the  atten- 
tion and  received  the  action  of  Congress  during  this  ses- 
sion :  the  provision  of  a  currency,  and  the  amendment  of 
the  law  to  confiscate  the  property  of  rebels.  A  bill  au- 
thorizing the  issue  of  Treasury  notes  to  the  amount  of 
$150,000,000,  and  making  them  a  legal  tender  in  all  busi- 
ness transactions,  was  reported  in  the  House  by  the  Fi- 
nance Committee,  of  which  Hon.  E.  G.  Spaulding,  of  New 
York,  was  Chairman,  and  taken  up  for  discussion  on  the 
17th  of  June.  It  was  advocated  mainly  on  the  score  of 
necessity,  and  was  opposed  on  the  ground  of  its  alleged 
unconstitutionality.  The  division  of  sentiment  on  the 
subject  was  not  a  party  one,  some  of  the  warmest  friends 
and  supporters  of  the  Administration  doubting  whether 
Congress  had  the  power  to  make  any  thing  but  silver  and 
gold  a  legal  tender  in  the  payment  of  debts.  The  same 
bill  provided  for  a  direct  tax,  involving  stamp  duties, 
taxes  upon  incomes,  etc.,  sufficient  with  the  duties  upon 
imports  to  raise  $150,000,000  per  annum,  and  also  for  the 
establishment  of  a  system  of  h'eo  banking,  by  which  bank- 
notes to  be  circulated  as  currency  might  be  issued  upon 
the  basis  of  stocks  of  the  United  States  deposited  as  secu- 
rity. The  bill  was  discussed  at  length,  and  was  finally 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  ninety-three  to  fifty-nine.  In  the 
Senate  it  encountered  a  similar  opposition,  but  passed  by 
a  vote  of  thirty  to  seven,  a  motion  to  strike  out  the  legal. 
tender  clause  having  been   previously  rejected — seven- 


240  The  Life,  Public  Services;  and 

teen  voting  in  favor  of  striking  it  out,  and  twenty  '/wo 
against  it. 

Tlie  subject  of  confiscating  tlie  property  of  rebels  ex- 
cited still  deeper  interest.  A  bill  for  that  purpose  was 
taken  up  in  the  Senate,  on  tlie  25th  of  February,  for  dis- 
cussion. By  one  of  its  sections  all  the  slaves  of  any  per- 
son, anywhere  in  the  United  States,  aiding  the  rebellion, 
were  declared  to  be  forever  free,  and  subsequent  sections 
provided  for  colonizing  slaves  thus  enfranchised.  The 
bill  was  advocated  on  the  ground  that  in  no  other  way 
could  the  property  of  rebels,  in  those  States  where  the 
judicial  authority  of  the  United  States  had  been  over- 
borne, be  reached ;  while  it  was  opposed  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  unconstitutional,  and  that  it  would  tend  to 
render  the  Southern  people  still  more  united  and  despe- 
rate in  their  rebellion.  By  the  confiscation  act  of  the  pre- 
vious session,  a  slave  who  had  been  employed  in  aiding 
the  rebellion  was  declared  to  be  free,  but  the  fact  that  he 
had  been  thus  employed  must  be  shown  by  due  judicial 
process ,  by  this  bill  all  the  slaves  of  any  person  who 
had  been  thus  engaged  were  set  free  without  the  inter- 
vention of  any  judicial  process  whatever.  This  feature 
of  the  bill  was  warmly  opposed  by  some  of  the  ablest 
and  most  reliable  of  the  supporters  of  the  Administration, 
as  a  departure  from  all  recognized  rules  of  proceeding, 
and  as  a  direct  interference  with  slavery  in  the  States, 
in  violation  of  the  most  solemn  pledge  of  the  Govern- 
ment, the  Republican  party,  and  individual  supporters 
of  the  Administration.  Senator  Collamer,  of  "Vermont, 
urged  this  view  of  the  case  with  great  cogency,  citing  Mr. 
Sumner's  opinion  expressed  on  the  25th  of  February, 
1861,  when,  on  presenting  a  memorial  to  the  Senate  in 
favor  of  abolishing  slavery,  he  had  added:  "In  offering 
it,  I  take  this  occasion  to  declare  most  explicitly  that  I 
do  not  think  that  Congress  has  any  right  to  interfere  with 
slavery  in  a  State ;"  and  quoting  also  Senator  Fessenden's 
declaration  in  the  debate  on  abolishing  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  when  he  said:  " I  have  held,  and 
T  hold  to-day,  and  I  say  to-day  what  I  have  said  in  my 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  241 

place  before,  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  ot 
thtf  people  of  the  United  States  through  the  Congress, 
linear  the  Constitution  as  it  now  exists,  have  no  right 
whatever  to  touch  by  legislation  the  institution  of  slavery 
in  the  Slates  where  it  exists  by  law."  Mr.  Sherman's 
opinkn,  expressed  in  the  same  debate,  that  "we  ought 
religiously  to  adhere  to  the  promises  we  made  to  the  peo- 
ple of  This  country  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  Presi- 
dent— we  ought  to  abstain  religiously  from  all  interfer 
ence  with  the  domestic  institutions  of  the  slave  or  the 
Free  States,"  was  also  quoted,  and  Mr.  Collamer  said  he 
did  not  see  how  it  was  possible  to  pass  the  bill  in  its 
present  form  without  giving  the  world  to  understand  that 
they  had  violated  those  pledges,  and  had  interfered  with 
slavery  in  the  States.  Mr.  Collamer  accordingly  offered 
an  amendment  to  the  bill,  obviating  the  objections  he  had 
urged  against  it ;  and  this,  with  other  amendments  offered 
by  other  Senators,  was  referred  to  a  Select  Committee, 
which  subsequently  reported  a  bill  designed,  as  the 
Chairman,  Mr.  Clark,  of  New  Hampshire,  explained,  to 
harmonize  the  various  shades  of  opinion  upon  the  sub- 
ject, and  secure  the  passage  of  some  measure  which 
should  meet  the  expectations  of  the  country  and  the 
emergency  of  the  case.  The  first  section  of  this  bill  pro- 
vided, that  every  person  who  should  hereafter  commit 
the  crime  of  treason  against  the  United  States,  and  be 
adjudged  guilty  thereof,  should  suffer  death,  and  all  his 
slaves,  if  any,  be  declared  and  made  free ;  or  he  should 
be  imprisoned  not  less  than  five  years,  and  fined  not  less 
than  $10,000,  and  all  his  slaves,  if  any,  be  declared  and 
made  free. 

The  distinctive  feature  of  this  section,  as  distinguished 
from  the  corresponding  section  of  the  original  bill,  con- 
sisted in  the  fact  that  a  trial  and  conviction  were  required 
before  any  person  guilty  of  treason  could  be  punished, 
either  by  death,  imprisonment,  or  the  forfeiture  of  his 
property.  It  was  opposed,  on  the  one  hand,  by  Mr.  Trum- 
bull, of  Illinois,  on  the  ground  that  it  "made  treason 
easy" — and  on  the  other,  by  Mr.  Davis,  of  Kentucky 

16 


242  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

because  it  set  slaves  hen.     Mr.  Sumner  offered  a  substi- 
tute to  the  whole  bill,  which  in  Ms  judgment  did  not  go 
far  enough  in  giving  the  country  the  advantage  of  the  "op- 
portunity which  God,  in  His  beneficence,  had  afforded" 
it  for  securing  universal  emancipation.     Mr.  Powell,  of 
Kentucky,   moved  to  strike  out  the  eleventh  section, 
which  authorized  the  President  to  "  employ  as  many  per 
eons  of  African  descent  as  he  might  deem  necessary  and 
proper  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  and  to  organ- 
ize and  use  them  in  such  manner  as  he  might  judge  best 
for  the  public  welfare" — but  his  motion  was  rejected  by 
a  vote  of  eleven  to  twenty -five.     While  the  bill  was  thus 
denounced  by  one  class  of  Senators  as  too  violent  in  its 
method  of  dealing  with  the  rebels,  it  was  resisted  with 
still  greater  vehemence  by  another  class  as  entirely  de- 
fective in    that    respect.      Mr.    Sumner  was    especially 
severe  in  his  censure  of  Senators  who  proposed,  he  said, 
"when  the  life  of  our  Republic  is  struck  at,  to  proceed 
as  if  by  an  indictment  in  a  criminal  court."    His  remarks 
gave  rise  to  considerable  personal  discussion — which  was 
interrupted  by  the  receipt  of  a  similar  bill  which  had  been 
passed  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  which  was 
decidedly  more  in  harmony  with  the  extreme  views  of 
Mr.  Sumner  and  his  friends,  than  the  Senate  bill.     It 
assumed  that  the  rebels  were  to  be  treated  like  a  foreign 
enemy,  without  regard  to  the  limitations  and  require- 
ments of  the  Constitution,  and  that  Congress,  instead  of 
the  President,  had  the  supreme  and  exclusive  control  of 
the  operations  of  the  war.     This  bill  on  coming  before  the 
Senate  was  set  aside,  and  the  bill  which  had  been  reported 
Dy  the  Senate  Committee  substituted  in  its  place,  by  a 
rote  of  twenty-one  to  seventeen,  and  the  latter  was  finally 
passed ;    ayes  twenty -eight,  noes  thirteen.     The  House 
did  not  concur  in  this  amendment  to  its  own  bill ;  but  on 
receiving  the  report  of  a  Committee  of  Conference  which 
made  some  amendments  to  the  Senate  bill,  it  was  passed, 
as  amended,  by  both  Houses,  and  sent  to  the  President 
for  his  signature. 
The  provisions  of  this  bill  were  as  follows :— - 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  243 

Ejection  1  enacted  that  every  person  who  should  after  its  passage  com- 
mit the  crime  of  treason  against  the  United  States,  and  bo  adjudged 
guilty  thereof,  should  suffer  death,  and  all  his  slaves,  if  any,  should  be 
declared  and  made  free ;  or  he  should  be  imprisoned  for  not  less  than 
five  years,  and  fined  not  less  than  $10,000,  and  all  his  slaves  made  free. 

Section  2  declared  that  if  any  person  shall  hereafter  incite,  assist,  or 
engage  in  any  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  the  United  States  or  the 
laws  thereof,  or  give  aid  or  comfort  thereto,  or  to  any  existing  rebellion, 
and  be  convicted  thereof,  he  shall  be  imprisoned  for  ten  years  or  less, 
fined  not  more  than  $10,000,  and  all  his  slaves  shall  be  set  free, 
j  Section  3.  Every  person  guilty  of  these  offences  shall  be  forever  di»- 
]ualitied  to  hold  any  office  under  the  United  States. 

Section  4.  This  act  was  not  to  affect  the  prosecution,  conviction,  or 
punishment  of  any  person  guilty  of  treason  before  the  passage  of  the  act, 
unless  convicted  under  it. 

Section  5  made  it  the  duty  of  the  President  to  seize  and  apply  to  the 
use  of  the  army  of  the  United  States  all  the  property  of  persons  who  had 
served  as  officers  of  the  rebel  army,  or  had  held  certain  civil  offices  under 
the  rebel  Government,  or  in  the  rebel  States,  provided  they  had  taken 
an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  rebel  authorities,  and  also  of  persons  who, 
having  property  in  any  of  the  loyal  States,  shall  hereafter  give  aid  to  the 
rebellion. 

Section  6  prescribed  that  if  any  other  persons  being  engaged  in  the 
rebellion  should  not,  within  sixty  days  after  public  proclamation  duly 
made  by  the  President,  cease  to  aid  the  rebellion,  all  their  property 
should  be  confiscated  in  the  same  manner. 

Section  7  directed  that  proceedings  in  rem  should  be  instituted  m  the 
name  of  the  United  States  in  the  court  of  the  district  within  which  sucb 
property  might  be  found,  and  if  said  property,  whether  real  or  personal, 
should  be  found  to  belong  to  any  person  engaged  in  rebellion,  it  should 
be  condemned  as  enemies'  property,  and  become  the  property  of  the 
United  States. 

Section  8  gave  the  several  District  Courts  of  the  United  States  author- 
ity and  power  to  make  such  orders  as  these  proceedings  might  require. 

Section  9  enacted  that  all  slaves  of  persons  who  shall  hereafter  be  en-  • 
gaged  in  rebellion  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  who 
shall  in  any  way  give  aid  or  comfort  thereto,  escaping  from  such  persons, 
and  taking  refuge  within  the  lines  of  the  army,  and  all  slaves  captured 
from  such  persons  or  deserted  by  them  and  coming  under  the  control  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  all  slaves  of  such  persons  found, 
or  being  within  any  place  occupied  by  rebel  forces,  and  afterwards  occu- 
pied by  the  forces  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  deemed  captives  of  war, 
and  shall  be  forever  free  of  their  servitude,  and  not  again  held  as  slaves. 

Section  1 0  enacted  that  no  slave  escaping  into  another  State  should 
be  delivered  up,  unless  the  claimant  should  make  oath  that  the  owner  or 


244  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

oiasaer  of  such  slave  had  never  borne  arms  against  the  United  States,  or 
given  any  aid  and  comfort  to  the  rebellion ;  and  every  person  in  the  mili- 
tary service  of  the  United  States  was  prohibited  from  deciding  on  the 
validity  of  any  claim  to  the  services  of  any  escaped  slave,  on  pain  of  dis- 
missal. 

Section  11  authorized  the  President  to  employ  as  many  persons  of  Af- 
rican descent  as  he  might  deem  necessary  and  proper  for  the  suppression 
of  the  rebellion,  and  to  organize  and  use  them  as  he  might  deem  best  fo« 
the  public  welfare. 

Section  12  authorized  the  President  to  make  provision  for  the  coloni- 
zation, with  their  own  consent,  of  persons  freed  under  this  act,  to  some 
country  beyond  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  having  first  obtained  the 
consent  of  the  Government  of  said  country  to  their  protection  and  settle- 
ment, with  all  the  privileges  of  free  men. 

Section  13  authorized  the  President  at  any  time  hereafter,  by  procla- 
mation, to  extend  to  persons  who  may  have  participated  in  this  rebellion, 
pardon  and  amnesty,  with  such  exceptions,  and  at  such  time,  and  on  such 
conditions  as  he  might  deem  expedient  for  the  public  welfare. 

Section  14  gave  the  courts  of  the  United  States  authority  to  institute 
such  proceedings,  and  issue  such  orders  as  might  be  necessary  to  carry 
this  act  into  effect. 

It  soon  came  to  be  understood  that  the  President  had 
o  ections  to  certain  portions  of  the  bill  which  would 
probably  prevent  him  from  signing  it.  A  joint  resolu- 
tion was  at  once  passed  in  the  House,  providing  that  the 
bill  should  be  so  construed  "as  not  to  apply  to  any  acts 
done  prior  to  its  passage  ;  nor  to  include  any  member  of 
a  State  legislature,  or  judge  of  any  State  court  who  has 
not,  in  accepting  or  entering  upon  his  office,  taken  an 
oath  to  support  the  constitution  of  the  so-called  Confed- 
erate States  of  America."  When  this  reached  the  Senate, 
Mr.  Clark,  of  New  Hampshire,  offered  the  following,  to 
be  added  to  the  resolution  : — 

Nor  shall  any  punishment  or  proceedings  under  said  act  be  so  con- 
strued as  to  work  a  forfeiture  of  the  real  estate  of  the  offender  beyond 
his  natura.  life. 

This  provision  encountered  a  sharp  opposition:  Mr. 
Trumbull,  of  Illinois,  insisting  that  the  forfeiture  of  real 
estate  for  life  only  would  amount  to  nothing,  and  other 
Senators  objecting  to  being  influenced  in  their  action  by 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

the  supposed  opinions  of  the  President.  Mr.  Clark  also 
proposed  another  amendment,  authorizing  the  President, 
in  granting  an  amnesty,  to  restore  to  the  offender  any 
property  which  might  have  been  seized  and  condemned 
under  this  act.  The  resolutions  and  amendments  were 
passed  by  the  Senate,  and  received  the  concurrence 
of  the  House.  On  the  17th  of  July  President  Lincoln  sent 
in  the  following  message,  announcing  that  he  had  signed 
the  bill,  and  specifying  his  objections  to  the  act  in  its 
original  shape : — 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : 

Considering  the  bill  for  "  An  Act  to  suppress  insurrection,  to  punish 

treason  and  rebellion,  to  seize  and  confiscate  the  property  of  rebels,  and 

for  other  purposes,"  and  the  joint  resolution  explanatory  of  said  act  as 

being  substantially  one,  I  have  approved  ai>.d  signed  both. 

Before  I  was  informed  of  the  resolution,  I  had  prepared  the  draft  of  a 

message,  stating  objections  to  the  bill  becoming  a  law,  a  copy  of  which 

draft  is  herewith  submitted.  Abraham  Lincoln. 

« 

July  12,  1862. 

[Copy.] 
Fellow-Citizens  of  the  House  of  Repreesentatives  : 

I  herewith  return  to  the  honorable  body  in  which  it  originated,  the 
bill  for  an  act  entitled  u  An  Act  to  suppress  treason  and  rebellion,  to 
seize  and  confiscate  the  property  of  rebels,  and  for  other  purposes,"  to- 
gether with  my  objections  to  its  becoming  a  law. 

There  is  much  in  the  bill  to  which  I  perceive  no  objection.  It  is 
wholly  prospective ;  and  it  touches  neither  person  nor  property  of  any 
'oyal  citizen,  in  which  particular  it  is  just  and  proper. 

Tho  first  and  second  sections  provide  for  the  conviction  and  punish- 
ment of  persons  who  shall  be  guilty  of  treason,  and  persons  who  shall 
"incite,  set  on  foot,  assist,  or  engage  in  any  rebellion  or  insurrection 
against  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  or  the  laws  thereof,  or  shall 
give  aid  or  comfort  thereto,  or  shall  engage  in  or  give  aid  and  comfort  to 
any  such  existing  rebellion  or  insurrection."  By  fair  construction,  per- 
sons within  those  sections  are  not  punished  without  regular  trials  in  duly 
constituted  courts,  under  the  forms  and  all  the  substantial  provisions  of 
law  and  the  Constitution  applicable  to  their  several  cases.  To  this  I  per- 
ceive no  objection  ;  especially  as  such  persons  would  be  within  the  gen- 
oral  pardoning  power,  and  also  the  special  provision  for  pardon  and  am 
ncety  contained  in  this  act. 

It  is  also  provided  that  the  slaves  of  persons  convicted  under  these  see- 


246  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

tions  shall  be  free.  I  think  there  is  an  unfortunate  form  of  expression, 
rather  than  a  substantial  objection,  in  this.  It  is  startling  to  say  that 
Congress  can  free  a  slave  within  a  State,  and  yet  if  it  were  said  the 
ownership  of  a  slave  had  first  been  transferred  to  the  nation,  and  Con- 
gress had  then  liberated  him,  the  difficulty  would  at  once  vanish.  And 
this  is  the  real  case.  The  traitor  against  the  General  Government  for- 
feits his  slave  at  least  as  justly  as  ho  does  any  other  property  ;  and  he 
forfeits  both  to  the  Government  against  which  he  offends.  The  Govern 
ruent,  s'  far  as  there  can  be  ownership,  thus  owns  the  forfeited  slaves, 
and  the  question  for  Congress  in  regard  to  them  is,  "  Shall  they  be  made 
free  or  sold  to  new  masters  ?"  I  perceive  no  objection  to  Congress  de- 
ciding in  advance  that  they  shall  be  free.  To  the  high  honor  of  Ken- 
tucky, as  I  am  informed,  she  is  the  owner  of  some  slaves  by  escheat,  and 
has  sold  none,  but  liberated  all.  I  hope  the  same  is  true  of  some  other 
States.  Indeed,.  I  do  not  believe  it  will  be  physically  possible  for  the 
General  Government  to  return  persons  so  circumstanced  to  actual  slavery. 
I  believe  there  would  be  physical  resistance  to  it,  which  could  neither  be 
turned  aside  by  argument  nor  driven  away  by  force.  In  this  view  I  have 
no  objection  to  this  feature  of  the  bill.  Another  matter  involved  in  these 
two  sections,  &W.  running  through  other  parts  of  the  act,  will  be  noticed 
hereafter. 

I  perceive  no  objections  to  the  third  or  fourth  sections. 

So  far  as  I  wish  to  notice  the  fifth  and  sixth  sections,  they  may  be  con- 
sidered together.  That  the  enforcement  of  these  sections  would  do  no 
injustice  to  the  persons  embraced  within  them,  is  clear.  That  those  who 
make  a  causeless  war  should  be  compelled  to  pay  the  cost  of  it,  is  too  ob- 
viously just  to  be  called  in  question.  To  give  governmental  protection 
to  the  property  of  persons  who  have  abandoned  it,  and  gone  on  a  crusade 
to  overthrow  the  same  Government,  is  absurd,  if  considered  in  the  mere 
light  of  justice.  The  severest  justice  may  not  always  be  the  best  policy. 
The  principle  of  seizing  and  appropriating  the  property  of  the  person  em 
braced  within  these  sections  is  certainly  not  very  objectionable,  but  a 
justly  discriminating  application  of  it  would  be  very  difficult,  and,  to  a 
great  extent,  impossible.  And  would  it  not  be  wise  to  place  a  power  of 
remission  somewhere,  so  that  these  persons  may  know  they  have  some- 
thing to  lose  by  persisting,  and  something  to  gain  by  desisting  ?  I  am 
not  sure  whether  such  power  of  remission  is  or  is  not  in  section  thirteen. 
Without  any  special  act  of  Congress,  I  think  our  military  commanders, 
when,  in  military  phrase,  "they  are  within  the  enemy's  country,"  should, 
in  an  orderly  manner,  seize  and  use  whatever  of  real  or  personal  prop- 
erty may  be  necessary  or  convenient  for  their  commands ;  at  the  same 
time  preserving,  in  some  way,  the  evidence  of  what  they  do. 

What  I  have  said  in  regard  to  slaves,  while  commenting  on  the  first 
and  second  sections,  is  applicable  to  the  ninth,  with  the  difference  tliat  no 
provision  is  made  in  the  whole  act  for  detenu iping  whether  a  parpjeuiar 


Statu.  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

individual  slave  does  or  does  not  fall  within  the  classes  defined  in  that 
section.  He  is  to  be  free  upon  certain  conditions ;  but  whether  those 
conditions  do  or  do  not  pertain  to  him,  no  mode  of  ascertaining  is  pro- 
vided.    This  could  be  easily  supplied. 

To  the  tenth  section  I  make  no  objection.  The  oath  therein  required 
seems  to  be  proper,  and  the  remainder  of  the  section  is  substantially  iden- 
tical with  a  law  already  existing. 

The  eleventh  section  simply  assumes  to  confer  discretionary  pcwex 
upon  the  Executive.  Without  the  law,  I  have  no  hesitation  tu  go  as  far 
in  the  direction  indicated  as  I  may  at  any  time  deem  expedient.  And  I 
am  ready  to  say  now,  I  think  it  is  proper  for  our  military  commanders 
to  employ,  as  laborers,  as  many  persons  of  African  descent  as  can  be 
used  to  advantage. 

The  twelfth  and  thirteenth  sections  are  something  better  than  unobjec- 
tionable ;  and  the  fourteenth  is  entirely  proper,  if  all  other  parts  of  the 
act  shall  stand. 

That  to  which  I  chiefly  object  pervades  most  part  of  the  act,  but  more 
distinctly  appears  in  the  first,  second,  seventh,  and  eighth  sections.  It. is 
the  sum  of  those  provisions  which  results  in  the  divesting  of  title  forever. 

For  the  causes  of  treason  and  ingredients  of  treason,  not  amounting  to 
the  full  crime,  it  declares  forfeiture  extending  beyond  the  lives  of  the 
guilty  parties ;  whereas  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  declares 
that  u  no  attainder  of  treason  shall  work  corruption  of  blood  or  forfeiture 
except  during  the  life  of  the  person  attainted."  True,  there  is  to  be  no 
formal  attainder  in  this  case ;  still,  I  think  the  greater  punishment  can- 
not be  constitutionally  inflicted,  in  a  different  form,  for  the  same  offence. 

With  great  respect  I  am  constrained  to  say  I  think  this  feature  of  the 
act  is  unconstitutional.     It  would  not  be  difficult  to  modify  it. 

I  may  remark  that  the  provision  of  the  Constitution,  put  in  language 
borrowed  from  Great  Britain,  applies  only  in  this  country,  as  I  under- 
stand, to  real  or  landed  estate. 

Again,  this  act,  in  rem,  forfeits  property  for  the  ingredients  of  treason 
without  a  conviction  of  the  supposed  criminal,  or  a  personal  hearing 
ijiven  him  in  any  proceeding.  That  we  may  not  touch  property  lying 
J  within  our  reach,  because  we  cannot  give  personal  notice  to  an  owiier 
who  is  absent  endeavoring  to  destroy  the  Government,  is  certainly  satis- 
factory. Still,  the  owner  may  not  be  thus  engaged ;  and  I  think  a  rea- 
sonable time  should  be  provided  for  such  parties  to  appear  and  have  per- 
sonal hearings.  Similar  provisions  are  not  uncommon  in  connection  wita 
proceedings  in  rem. 

For  the  reasons  stated,  I  return  the  bill  to  the  House  in  which  it  origi- 
nated. 

The  passage  of  this  bill  constituted  a  very  important 
step  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  for  the  suppression  of 


248  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

tlie  rebellion.  It  prescribed  definite  penalties  for  the 
crime  of  treason,  and  thus  supplied  a  defect  in  the  laws 
as  they  then  existed.  It  gave  the  rebels  distinctly  to  un- 
derstand that  one  of  these  penalties,  if  they  persisted  in 
their  resistance  to  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
would  be  the  emancipation  of  their  slaves.  And  it  also 
authorized  the  employment  by  the  President  of  persons 
of  African  descent,  to  aid  in  the  suppression  of  the  Rebel 
lion  in  any  way  which  he  might  deem  most  conducive  to 
the  public  welfare.  Yet  throughout  the  bill,  it  was 
clearly  made  evident  that  the  object  and  purpose  of  these 
measures  was  not  the  abolition  of  slavery,  but  the  pi  ner- 
vation of  the  Union  and  the  restoration  of  the  authority 
of  the  Constitution. 

On  the  14th  of  January  Simon  Cameron  resigned  his 
position  as  Secretary  of  War.  On  the  30th  of  April  the 
House  of  Representatives  passed,  by  a  vote  of  seventy- 
five  to  forty-five,  a  resolution,  censuring  certain  official 
acts  performed  by  him  while  acting  as  Secretary  of  War ; 
whereupon,  on  the  27th  of  May,  President  Lincoln  trans- 
mitted to  the  House  the  following  message  :— 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives : 

The  insurrection  which  is  yet  existing  in  the  United  States,  and  aims 
at  the  overthrow  of  the  Federal  Constitution  and  the  Union,  was  clan- 
destinely prepared  during  the  winter  of  1860  and  1861,  and  assumed  an 
open  organization  in  the  form  of  a  treasonable  provisional  government  at 
Montgomery,  Alabama,  or.  the  eighteenth  day  of  February,  1861.  On  the 
twelfth  day  of  April,  186K,  the  insurgents  committed  the  flagrant  act  of 
civil  war  by  the  bombardment  and  capture  of  Fort  Sumter,  which  cut 
ofl  the  hope  of  immediate  conciliation.  Immediately  afterwards  all  the 
roads  and  avenues  to  this  city  were  obstructed,  and  the  Capital  was  put 
into  the  condition  of  a  siege.  The  mails  in  every  direction  were  stopped 
and  the  lines  of  telegraph  cut  off  by  the  insurgents,  and  military  and 
naval  forces  which  had  been  called  out  by  the  Government  for  the  de- 
fence of  Washington  were  prevented  from  reaching  the  city  by  organized 
and  combined  treasonable  resistance  in  the  State  of  Maryland.  Thero 
was  no  adequate  and  effective  organization  for  the  public  defence.  Con- 
gress had  indefinitely  adjourned.  There  was  no  time  to  convene  them 
It  became  necessary  for  me  to  choose  whether,  using  only  the  existing 
means,  agencies,  and  processes  which  Congress  had  provided,  I  should  let 
the  Government  fall  into  ruin,  or  whether,  availing  myself  of  the  broader 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  249 

powers  conferred  by  the  Constitution  in  cases  of  insurrection,  I  would 
make  an  effort  to  save  it,  with  ail  its  blessings,  for  the  present  age  and  for 
posterity.  I  thereupon  summoned  my  constitutional  advisers,  the  heads 
of  all  the  departments,  to  meet  on  Sunday,  the  twentieth  day  of  April, 
1861,  at  the  office  of  the  Navy  Department,  and  then  and  there,  with  their 
unanimous  concurrence,  I  directed  that  an  armed  revenue  cutter  should 
proceed  to  sea  to  afford  protection  to  the  commercial  marine,  especially 
to  the  California  treasure-ships,  then  on  their  way  to  this  coast.  I  also 
directed  the  Commandant  of  the  Navy  Yard  at  Boston  to  purchase  or 
charter,  and  arm,  as  quickly  as  possible,  five*  steamships  for  purposes  of 
public  defence.  I  directed  the  Commandant  of  the  Navy  Yard  at  Phila- 
delphia tc  purchase  or  charter,  and  arm,  an  equal  number  for  the  same 
purpose.  I  directed  the  Commandant  at  New  York  to  purchase  or  char 
ter,  and  arm,  an  equal  number.  I  directed  Commander  Gillis  to  purchase 
or  charter,  and  arm  and  put  to  sea,  two  other  vessels.  Similar  directions 
were  given  to  Commodore  Du  Pont,  with  a  view  to  the  opening  of  pas- 
sages by  water  to  and  from  the  Capital.  I  directed  the  several  officer?  to 
take  the  advice  and  obtain  the  aid  and  efficient  services  in  the  matter  of 
his  Excellency  Ed  win  D.  Morgan,  the  Governor  of  New  York ;  or,  in  his 
absence,  George  I).  Morgan,  Win.  M.  Evarts,  R.  M.  Blatchford,  and  Moses 
H.  Grinnell,  who  were,  by  my  directions,  especially  empowered  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  act  for  his  department  in  that  crisis,  in  matters 
pertaining  to  the  forwarding  of  troops  and  supplies  for  the  public  defence. 
On  the  same  occasion  I  directed  that  Governor  Morgan  and  Alexander 
Cummings,  of  the  City  of  New  York,  should  be  authorized  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  War,  Simon  Cameron,  to  make  all  necessary  arrangements  for 
the  transportation  of  troops  and  munitions  of  war  in  aid  and  assist- 
ance of  the  officers  of  the  army  of  the  United  States,  until  communica- 
tion by  mails  and  telegraph  should  be  completely  re-established  between 
the  cities  of  Washington  and  New  York.  No  security  was  required  to 
be  given  by  them,  and  either  of  them  was  authorized  to  act  in  case  of 
inability  to  consult  with  the  other.  On  the  same  occasion  I  authorized 
and  directed  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  advance,  without  requir- 
ing security,  two  millions  of  dollars  of  public  money  to  John  A.  Dix, 
George  Opdyke,  and  Richard  M.  Blatchford,  of  New  York,  to  he  used 
by  them  in  meeting  such  requisitions  as  should  be  directly  consequent 
upon  the  military  and  naval  measures  for  the  defence  and  support  of 
the  Government,  requiring  them  only  to  act  without  compensation,  and 
to  report  their  transactions  when  duly  called  upon.  The  several  de- 
partments of  the  Government  at  that  time  contained  so  large  a  number 
of  disloyal  persons  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  provide  safely 
through  official  agents  only,  for  the  performance  of  the  duties  thus  con- 
fided to  citizens  favorably  known  for  their  ability,  loyalty,  and  patriot- 
ism. The  several  orders  issued  upon  these  occurrences  were  trans- 
mitted by  private  messengers,  who  pursued  a  circuitous  way  to  the 


250  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

•eaboard  cities,  inland  across  the  States  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  and 
the  northern  lakes.  I  believe  that  by  these  and  other  similar  measures 
taken  in  that  crisis,  some  of  which  were  without  any  authority  of  law, 
the  Government  was  saved  from  overthrow.  I  am  not  aware  that  a 
dollar  of  the  public  funds  thus  confided,  without  authority  of  law,  to  un- 
official persons,  was  either  lost  or  wasted,  although  apprehensions  of  such 
misdirections  occurred  to  me  as  objections  to  these  extraordinary  pro 
ceedings,  and  were  necessarily  overruled.  I  recall  these  transactions  now,  j 
because  my  attention  has  been  directed  to  a  resolution  which  was  passed 
by  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  thirtieth  of  last  month,  which  is 
in  these  words : — 

ResoUed,  That  Simon  Cameron,  late  Secretary  of  War,  by  intrusting 
Alexander  Oummings  with  the  control  of  large  sums  of  the  public  money, 
and  authority  to  purchase  military  supplies  without  restriction,  without 
requiring  from  him  any  guarantee  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his 
duties,  while  the  services  of  competent  public  officers  were  available,  and 
by  involving  the  Government  in  a  vast  number  of  contracts  with  persona 
not  legitimately  engaged  in  the  business  pertaining  to  the  subject-matter 
of  such  contracts,  especially  in  the  purchase  of  arms  for  future  deliv- 
ery, has  adopted  a  policy  highly  injurious  to  the  public  service,  and 
deserves  the  censure  of  the  House. 

Congress  will  see  that  I  should  be  wanting  in  candor  and  in  justice  if  I 
should  leave  the  censure  expressed  in  this  resolution  to  rest  exclusively  or 
chiefly  upon  Mr.  Cameron.  The  same  sentiment  is  unanimously  enter- 
tained by  the  heads  of  the  departments,  who  participated  in  the  proceed- 
ings which  the  House  of  Representatives  has  censured.  It  is  due  to  Mr. 
Cameron  to  say,  that  although  he  fully  approved  the  proceedings,  they 
were  not  moved  nor  suggested  by  himself,  and  that  not  only  the  Presi- 
dent, but  all  the  other  heads  of  departments,  were  at  least  equally  respon- 
sible with  him  for  whatever  error,  wrong,  or  fault  was  committed  in  the 
piwinises.  Abbaham  Lincoln. 

This  lettei  was  in  strict  conformity  with  the  position 
nnifornily  held  "by  the  President  in  regard  to  the  respon- 
sibility of  members  of  his  Cabinet  for  acts  of  the  Admin- 
istration. He  always  maintained  that  the  proper  duty  of 
each  Secretary  was,  to  direct  the  details  of  every  tiling 
done  within  his  own  department,  and  to  tender  such  sug 
gestions,  information,  and  advice  to  the  President  as  he 
might  solicit  at  his  hands.  But  the  duty  and  responsi- 
bility of  deciding  what  line  of  policy  should  be  pursued, 
or  what  steps  should  be  taken  in  any  specific  case,  in  his 
judgment,  belonged  exclusively  to  the  President;  and  he 
tras  always  willing  and  ready  to  assume  it.     This  posi 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  251 

cion  lias  been  widely  and  sharply  assailed  in  various 
quarters,  as  contrary  to  the  precedents  of  our  early  his- 
tory ;  hut  we  believe  it  to  be  substantially  in  accordance 
with  the  theory  of  the  Constitution  upon  this  subject. 

The  progress  of  our  armies  in  certain  portions  of  the 
Southern  States  had  warranted  the  suspension,  at  several 
ports,  of  the  restrictions  placed  upon  commerce  by  the 
blockade.  On  the  12th  of  May  the  President  accordingly 
issued  a  proclamation  declaring  that  the  blockade  of  the 
ports  of  Beaufort,  Port  Eoyal,  and  New  Orleans  should 
so  far  cease  from  the  1st  of  June,  that  commercial  inter- 
course from  those  ports,  except  as  to  contraband  of  war, 
might  be  resumed,  subject  to  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  and  the  regulations  of  the  Treasury  Department. 

On  the  1st  of  July  he  issued  another  proclamation,  in 
pursuance  of  the  law  of  June  7th,  designating  the  States 
and  parts  of  States  that  were  then  in  insurrection,  so  that 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  concerning  the  collection  of 
taxes  could  not  be  enforced  within  their  limits,  and  de- 
claring that  "the  taxes  legally  chargeable  upon  real 
estate,  under  the  act  referred  to,  lying  within  the  States 
or  parts  of  States  thus  designated,  together  with  a  penalty 
of  fifty  per  cent,  of  said  taxes,  should  be  a  lien  upon  the 
tracts  or  lots  of  the  same,  severally  charged,  till  paid," 

On  the  20th  of  October,  rinding  it  absolutely  necessary 
to  provide  judicial  proceedings  for  the  State  of  Louisiana, 
a  part  of  which  was  in  our  military  possession,  the  Presi 
dent  issued  an  order  establishing  a  Provisional  Court  in 
the  City  of  New  Orleans,  of  which  Charles  A.  Peabody 
was  made  Judge,  with  authority  to  try  all  causes,  civil 
and  criminal,  in  law,  equity,  revenue,  and  admiralty,  and 
particularly  to  exercise  all  such  power  and  jurisdiction 
as  belongs  to  the  Circuit  and  District  Courts  of  the  United 
States.  His  proceedings  were  to  be  conformed,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  the  course  of  proceedings  and  practice  usual 
In  the  Courts  of  the  United  States  of  Louisiana,  and  his 
judgment  was  to  be  final  and  conclusive. 

Congress  adjourned  on  the  17th  of  July,  having  adopted 
many  measures  of  marked  though  minor  importance,  be 


252  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

sides  those  to  which  we  have  referred,  to  aid  in  the  pros- 
ecution of  the  war.  Several  Senators  were  expelled  for 
adherence,  direct  or  indirect,  to  the  rebel  cause  ;  meas- 
ures were  taken  to  remove  from  the  several  departments 
of  the  Government  employes  more  or  less  openly  in  sym- 
pathy with  secession  ;  Hayti  and  Liberia  were  recognized 
as  independent  republics  ;  a  treaty  was  negotiated  am 
ratified  with  Great  Britain  which  conceded  the  right 
within  certain  limits,  of  searching  suspected  slavers  car 
rying  the  American  flag,  and  the  most  liberal  grants  in 
men  and  money  were  made  to  the  Government  for  the 
prosecution  of  the  war.  The  President  had  appointed 
military  governors  for  several  of  the  Border  States,  where 
public  sentiment  was  divided,  enjoining  them  to  protect 
the  loyal  citizens,  and  to  regard  them  as  alone  entitled  to 
a  voice  in  the  direction  of  civil  affairs. 

Public  sentiment  throughout  the  loyal  States  sustained 
the  action  of  Congress  and  the  President,  as  adapted  to 
the  emergency,  and  well  calculated  to  aid  in  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  rebellion.  At  the  same  time  it  was  very  evi- 
dent that  the  conviction  was  rapidly  gaining  ground  that 
slavery  was  the  cause  of  the  rebellion ;  that  the  para- 
mount object  of  the  conspirators  against  the  Union  was 
to  obtain  new  guarantees  for  the  institution  ;  and  that  it 
was  this  interest  alone  which  gave  unity  and  vigor  to  the 
rebel  cause.  A  very  active  and  influential  party  at  the 
North  had  insisted  from  the  outset  that  the  most  direct 
way  of  crushing  the  rebellion  was  by  crushing  slavery, 
and  they  had  urged  upon  the  President  the  adoption  of  a 
policy  of  immediate  and  unconditional  emancipation,  as 
the  only  thing  necessary  to  bring  into  the  ranks  of  the 
Union  armies  hundreds  of  thousands  of  enfranchised 
slaves,  as  well  as  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  the 
Northern  States  who  needed  this  stimulus  of  an  appeal  to 
their  moral  sentiment.  After  the  adjournment  of  Con- 
gress these  demands  became  still  more  clamorous  and 
importunate.  The  President  was  summoned  to  avail 
himself  of  the  opportunity  offered  by  the  passage  of  the 
Confiscation  Bill,  and  to  decree  the  instant  liberation  of 


State  Papers  op  Abraham  Lincoln.  253 

every  slave  belonging  to  a  rebel  master.  These  demands 
soon  assumed,  with  the  more  impatient  and  intemperate 
portion  of  the  friends  of  the  Administration,  a  tone  of 
complaint  and  condemnation,  and  the  President  was 
charged  with  gross  and  culpable  remissness  in  the  dis- 
charge of  duties  imposed  upon  him  by  the  act  of  Con- 
gress. They  were  embodied  with  force  and  effect  in  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  President  by  Hon.  Horace  Greeley, 
and  published  in  the  New  York  Tribune  of  the  19th  of 
August,  to  which  President  Lincoln  made  the  following 
reply :— 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington,  August  22, 1862. 

Hon.  Horace  Greeley  : 

Dear  Sir — I  have  just  read  yours  of  the  19th  instant,  addressed  to  ray- 
self  through  the  New  York  Tribune. 

If  there  be  in  it  any  statements  or  assumptions  of  fact  which  I  may 
know  to  be  erroneous,  I  do  not  now  and  here  controvert  them. 

If  there  be  any  inferences  which  I  may  believe  to  be  falsely  drawn,  I 
do  not  now  and  here  argue  against  them. 

If  there  be  perceptible  in  it  an  impatient  and  dictatorial  tone,  I  waive 
it  in  deference  to  an  old  friend  whose  heart  I  have  always  supposed  to  be 
right. 

As  to  the  policy  I  "  seem  to  be  pursuing,"  as  you  say,  I  have  not  meant 
to  leave  any  one  in  doubt.  J  would  save  the  Union.  I  would  save  it  in 
the  shortest  way  under  the  Constitution. 

The  sooner  the  national  authority  can  be  restored,  the  nearer  the  Union 
will  be — the  Union  as  it  was. 

If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless  they  coulA  at 
the  same  time  save  slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with  them. 

If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless  they  could  at 
U:  S  same  time  destroy  slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with  them. 

My  paramount  object  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  not  either  to  save  or  t* 
destroy  slavery. 

If  I  could  save  the  Union  without  freeing  any  slave,  I  would  do  it — if  I 
co aid  save  it  by  freeing  all  the  slaves,  I  would  do  it — and  if  I  could  do  it 
by  freeing  some  and  leaving  others  alone,  I  would  also  do  that. 

What  I  do  about  slavery  and  the  colored  race,  I  do  because  I  believe  it 
helps  to  save  this  Union ;  and  what  I  forbear,  I  forbear  because  I  io  not 
Ve)ieve  it  would  help  to  save  the  Union. 

I  shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  believe  what  I  am  doing  hurts  the 
cause,  and  I  shall  do  more  whenever  I  believe  doing  more  v~  help  the 
cause. 

I  shall  try  to  correct  errors  when  shown  to  be  errors,  and  I  eh  ail  adopt 
tew  views  so  fast  as  they  shall  appear  to  be  true  views. 


254  The  Life,  Public  Services,  anb 

I  nave  here  stated  my  purpose  according  to  my  views  of  official  duty 
and  I  intend  no  modification  of  my  oft-expressed  personal  wish  that  i£ 
men  everywhere  could  be  tree.  Yours, 

A.  Lincoln. 

It  was  impossible  to  mistake  the  President's  meaning 
after  this  letter,  or  to  have  any  doubt  as  to  the  policy  by 
which  he  expected  to  re-establish  the  authority  of  the 
Constitution  over  the  whole  territory  of  the  United  States 
His  "  paramount  object,"  in  every  thing  he  did  and  ir» 
every  thing  he  abstained  from  doing,  was  to  usave  tha 
Union."  He  regarded  all  the  power  conferred  on  him  by 
Congress  in  regard  to  slavery,  as  having  been  conferred 
to  aid  him  in  the  accomplishment  of  that  object — and  he 
was  resolved  to  wield  those  powers  so  as  best,  according 
to  his  own  judgment,  to  aid  in  its  attainment.  He  for 
bore,  therefore,  for  a  long  time,  the  issue  of  such  a  proc- 
lamation as  he  was  authorized  to  make  by  the  sixth  sec 
tion  of  the  Confiscation  Act  of  Congress — awaiting  the 
developments  of  public  sentiment  on  the  subject,  and 
being  especially  anxious  that  when  it  was  issued  it 
should  receive  the  moral  support  of  the  great  body  of 
the  people  of  the  whole  country,  without  regard  to  party 
distinctions.  He  sought,  therefore,  with  assiduous  care, 
every  opportunity  of  informing  himself  as  to  the  drift 
of  puWic  sentiment  on  this  subject.  He  received  and 
conversed  freely  with  ail  who  came  to  see  him  and  to 
urge  upon  him  the  adoption  of  their  peculiar  views ;  and 
on  the  13th  of  September  gave  formal  audience  to  a  depu- 
tation from  all  the  religious  denominations  of  the  City  of 
Chicago,  which  had  been  appointed  on  the  7th,  to  wait 
upon  him.  The  committee  presented  a  memorial  request- 
ing him  at  once  to  issue  a  proclamation  of  universal  eman- 
cipation, and  the  chairman  followed  it  by  some  remarks 
in  support  of  this  request. 

The  President  listened  attentively  to  the  memorial,  and 
then  made  to  those  who  had  presented  it  the  following 
reply  :— 

The  subject  presented  in  the  memorial  is  one  upon  which  I  have  tho^ht 
much  for  wfceks  past,  and  7  *xiay  even  say  for  months.     I  am  approached 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  255 

with  the  most  opposite  opinions  and  advice,  and  that  by  religions  men, 
who  are  equally  certain  that  they  represent  the  Divine  will.  I  am  sure 
that  either  the  one  or  the  other  class  is  mistaken  in  that  belief,  and  per- 
haps in  some  respects  both.  I  hope  it  will  not  be  irreverent  for  me  to 
Bay  that  if  it  is  probable  that  God  would  reveal  his  will  to  others,  on  a 
point  so  connected  with  my  duty,  it  might  be  supposed  he  would  reveal 
it  directly  to  me;  for,  unless  I  am  more  deceived  in  myself  than  I  often 
am,  it  is  my  earnest  desire  to  know  the  will  of  Providence  in  this  matter. 
And  if  I  can  learn  what  it  is  I  will  do  it !  These  are  not,  however,  the 
days  of  miracles,  and  I  suppose  it  will  be  granted  that  I  am  not  to  expect 
a  direct  revelation.  I  must  study  the  plain  physical  facts  of  the  case, 
ascertain  what  is  possible,  and  learn  what  appears  to  be  wise  and  right. 

The  subject  is  difficult,  and  good  men  do  not  agree.  For  instance,  the 
other  day,  four  gentlemen  of  standing  and  intelligence  from  New  York 
called  as  a  delegation  on  business  connected  with  the  war;  but  before 
leaving  two  of  them  earnestly  besought  me  to  proclaim  general  emanci- 
pation, upon  which  the  other  two  at  once  attacked  them.  You  know 
also  that  the  last  session  of  Congress  had  a  decided  majority  of  anti- 
slavery  men,  yet  they  could  not  unite  on  this  policy.  And  the  same  ia 
true  of  the  religious  people.  Why,  the  rebel  soldiers  are  praying  with 
a  great  deal  more  earnestness,  I  fear,  than  our  own  troops,  and  expect- 
ing God  to  favor  their  side :  for  one  of  our  soldiers  who  had  been  taken 
prisoner  told  Senator  Wilson  a  few  days  since  that  he  met  nothing  so 
discouraging  as  the  evident  sincerity  of  those  he  was  among  in  their 
prayers.     But  we  will  talk  over  the  merits  of  the  case. 

What  good  would  a  proclamation  of  emancipation  from  me  do,  espe- 
cially as  we  are  now  situated?  I  do  not  want  to  issue  a  document  that 
the  whole  world  will  see  must  necessarily  be  inoperative,  like  the  Pope's 
bull  against  the  comet !  Would  my  word  free  the  slaves,  when  I  cannot 
even  enforce  the  Constitution  in  the  rebel  States?  Is  there  a  single 
court,  or  magistrate,  or  individual  that  would  be  influenced  by  it  there? 
And  what  reason  is  there  to  think  it  would  have  any  greater  offeot  upon 
the  slaves  than  the  late  law  of  Congress,  which  I  approved,  and  which 
offers  protection  and  freedom  to  the  slaves  of  rebel  masters  who  come 
within  our  lines  ?  Yet  I  cannot  learn  that  that  law  has  caused  a  single 
slave  to  come  over  to  us.  And  suppose  they  could  be  induced  by  a  proc- 
lation  of  freedom  from  me  to  throw  themselves  upon  us,  what  should 
we  do  with  them?  How  can  we  feed  and  care  for  such  a  multitude? 
General  Butler  wrote  me  a  few  days  since  that  he  was  issuing  more 
rations  to  the  slaves  who  have  rushed  to  him  than  to  all  the  white 
troops  under  his  command.  They  eat,  and  that  is  all ;  though  it  is  true 
General  Butler  is  feeding  the  whites  also  by  the  thousand ;  for  it  nearly 
amounts  to  a  famine  there.  If,  now,  the  pressure  of  the  war  should  call 
off  our  forces  from  New  Orleans  to  defend  some  other  point,  what  is  to 
prevent  the  masters  from  reducing  the  blacks  to  slavery  again  ?  for  I 


256  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

am  told  that  whenever  the  rebels  take  any  black  prisoners,  free  or  slave, 
they  immediately  auction  them  off!  They  did  so  with  those  they  took 
from  a  boat  that  was  aground  in  the  Tennessee  River  a  few  days  ago. 
And  then  I  am  very  ungenerously  attacked  for  it!  For  instanoe,  when, 
after  the  late  battles  at  and  near  Bull  Run,  an  expedition  went  out  from 
Washington  under  a  flag  of  truce  to  bury  the  dead  and  bring  in  the 
wounded,  and  the  rebels  seized  the  blacks  wlio  ^ent  along  to  help,  ani* 
sent  them  into  slavery,  Horace  Greeley  said  in  his  paper  that  the  Govern- 
ment would  probably  do  nothing  about  it.     What  could  I  do? 

Now,  then,  tell  me,  if  you  please,  what  possible  result  of  good  would 
follow  the  issuing  of  such  a  proclamation  as  you  desire  ?  Understand, 
I  raise  no  objections  against  it  on  legal  or  constitutional  grounds,  for,  as 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  in  time  of  war  I  suppose  1 
have  a  right  to  take  any  measure  which  may  best  subdue  the  enemy ; 
nor  do  I  urge  objections  of  a  moral  nature,  in  view  of  possible  conse- 
queDces  of  insurrection  and  massacre  at  the  South.  I  view  this  matter 
as  a  practical  war  measure,  to  be  decided  on  according  to  the  advantages 
or  disadvantages  it  may  offer  to  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion. 

The  Committee  replied  to  these  remarks,  insisting  that 
a  proclamation  of  emancipation  would  secure  at  once  the 
sympathy  of  Europe  and  the  civilized  world ;  and  that 
as  slavery  was  clearly  the  cause  and  origin  of  the  rebel- 
lion, it  was  simply  just,  and  in  accordance  with  the  word 
of  God,  that  it  should  be  abolished.  To  these  remarks 
the  President  responded  as  follows : — 

I  admit  that  slavery  is  at  the  root  of  the  rebellion,  or  at  least  its  ains 
gud  non.  The  ambition  of  politicians  may  have  instigated  them  to  act, 
b:it  they  would  have  been  impotent  without  slavery  as  their  instrument. 
I  will  also  concede  that  emancipation  would  help  us  in  Europe,  and  con- 
vinoe  them  that  we  are  incited  by  something  more  than  ambition.  I 
grant,  further,  that  it  would  help  somewhat  at  the  North,  though  not  so 
much,  I  fear,  as  you  and  those  you  represent  imagine.  Still,  some  addi- 
tional strength  would  be  added  in  that  way  to  the  war,  and  then,  un- 
questionably, it  would  weaken  the  rebels  by  drawing  off  their  laborers, 
which  is  of  great  importance ;  but  I  am  not  so  sure  we  could  do  much 
with  the  blacks,  if  we  were  to  arm  them,  I  fear  that  in  a  few  weeks 
the  arms  would  be  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels ;  and,  indeed,  thus  far,  we 
have  not  had  arms  enough  to  equip  our  white  troops.  I  will  mention 
another  thing,  though  it  meet  only  your  scorn  and  contempt.  There  are 
fifty  thousand  bayonets  in  the  Union  army  irom  the  Border  Slave  States 
It  would  be  a  serious  matter  if,  in  consequence  of  a  proclamation  such 
10  yon  desire,  they  should  go  over  to  the  rebels,    I  do  not  think  they  ali 


State  Paeees  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  257 

wcrald  —not  so  many,  indeed,  as  a  year  ago,  or  as  six  months  ag  not  sc 
many  to- day  as  yesterday.  Every  day  increases  their  Union  Ueling, 
They  are  also  getting  their  pride  enlisted,  and  want  to  beat  the  rebels. 
Let  me  say  one  thing  more :  I  think  you  should  admit  that  we  already 
have  an  important  principle  to  rally  and  unite  the  people,  in  the  fact  that 
constitutional  government  is  at  stake.  This  is  a  fundamental  idea  goinfc 
down  about  as  deep  as  any  thing. 

The  Committee  replied  to  this  in  some  "brief  remarks,  te 
winch  the  President  made  the  following  response : — 

Do  not  misunderstand  me  because  I  have  mentioned  these  objection*. 
They  indicate  the  difficulties  that  have  thus  far  prevented  my  action  ia 
some  such  way  as  you  desire.  I  hove  not  decided  against  a  proclamation 
of  liberty  to  the  slaves,  but  hold  the  matter  under  advisement.  And  1 
can  assure  you  that  the  subject  is  on  my  mind,  by  day  and  night,  mora 
than  any  other.  Whatever  shall  Appear  to  be  God's  will  I  will  do.  I 
trust  that  in  the  freedom  with  which  I  have  canvassed  yonr  views  I  have 
not  in  any  respect  injured  your  fefiings. 

After  free  deliberation,  and  being  satisfied  that  the 
public  welfare  would  be  promoted  by  such  a  step,  and 
that  public  sentiment  would  sustain  it,  on  the  22d  of  Sep- 
tember the  President  issued  the  following  preliminary 

?P£OLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION. 

I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
Oommander-in  Chief  of  the  army  and  navy  thereof,  do  hereby  proclaim 
and  declare  that  hereafter,  as  heretofore,  the  war  will  be  prosecuted  for 
the  object  of  practically  restoring  the  constitutional  relation  between  the 
United  States  and  each  of  the  States,  and  the  people  thereof,  in  which 
States  that  relation  is  or  may  be  suspended  or  disturbed. 

That  it  is  my  purpose,  upon  the  next  meeting  of  Congress,  to  again 
recommend  the  adoption  of  a  practical  measure  tendering  pecuniary  aid 
to  the  free  acceptance  or  rejection  of  all  slave  States,  so  called,  the  people 
whereof  may  not  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  and 
which  States  may  then  have  voluntarily  adopted,  or  thereafter  may  vol- 
untarily adopt,  immediate  or  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery  within  their 
respective  limits;  and  that  the  effort  to  colonize  persons  of  African 
descent,  with  their  consent,  upon  this  continent  or  elsewhere,  with  the 
previously  obtained  consent  of  the  governments  existing  there,  will  be 
continued. 

That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any  Stat*, 
or  designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion 
II 


258  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

against  the  United  States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and  forever  free; 
and  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  mili- 
tary and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom 
of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acta  to  repress  such  persons,  or  any 
of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their  actual  freedom. 

That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  aforesaid,  by  pr<>«> 
lamation,  designate  the  States  and  parts  of  States,  if  any,  in  A'hioh  lb* 
people  thereof  respectively  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States;  and  the  fact  that  any  State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that 
day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by 
]  iembers  chosen  thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified 
voters  of  such  State  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong 
countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evidence  that  such  State, 
and  the  people  thereof,  are  not  then  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States. 

That  attention  is  hereby  called  to  an  act  of  Congress  entitled  "An  Act 
to  make  an  additional  Article  of  War,"  approved  March  13th,  1862,  and 
which  act  is  in  the  words  and  figures  following : — 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  Rouse  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  hereafter  the  following 
shall  be  promulgated  as  an  additional  article  of  war  for  the  government 
of  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and  shall  be  obeyed  and  observed  ad 
such : — 

Section  1. — All  officers  or  persons  in  the  military  or  naval  service  of 
the  United  States  are  prohibited  fi<om  employing  any  of  the  forces  under 
their  respective  commands  for  the  purpose  of  returning  fugitives  from 
service  or  labor  who  may  have  escaped  from  any  persons  to  whom  such 
service  or  labor  is  claimed  to  be  due ;  and  any  officer  who  shall  be  foun  1 
guilty  by  a  court-martial  of  violating  this  article  shall  be  dismissed  from 
the  service. 

Seo.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  this  act  shall  take  effect  from 
and  after  its  passage. 

Also,  to  the  ninth  and  tenth  sections  of  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to 
Suppress  Insurrection,  to  Punish  Treason  and  Rebellion,  to  Seize  and 
Confiscate  Property  of  Eebels,  and  for  other  Purposes,"  approved  July 
16,  18G2,  and  whi^h  sections  are  in  the  words  and  figures  following! — 

Seo.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  all  slaves  of  persons  whe  shah 
hereafter  be  engaged  in  rebellion  against  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  or  who  shall  in  any  way  give  aid  or  comfort  thereto,  escaping  from 
such  porsons  and  takiug  refuge  within  the  Hues  of  the  army;  and  all 
slaves  captured  from  such  persons,  or  deserted  by  them  and  coming 
under  the  control  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States;  and  all  slavna 
of  such  persons  found  on  [or]  being  within  any  place  occupied  by  rebel 
foroes  and  afterwards  occupied  by  forces  of  the  United  States,  shall  bs 
deemed  captives  of  war,  and  shall  be  forever  free  of  their  servitude,  ai\d 
Aot  again  held  as  slave*. 

Seo.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  slave  escaping  into  any 
State,  Territory,  or  the  District  of  Columbia,  from  any  other  State,  shalj 

•  '      \    - 


Stale  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  259 

be  delivered  up.  or  in  any  way  impeded  or  hindered  of  his  liberty,  except 
for  crime,  or  some  offence  agaiust  the  laws,  unless  the  person  claiming 
said  fugitive  shall  first  make  oath  that  the  person  to  whom  th»  labor  or 
service  of  such  fugitive  is  alleged  to  he  due  is  his  lawful  owner,  and  haa 
not  borne  arms  against  the  United  states  in  the  present  rebellion,  nor  in 
any  way  given  aid  and  comfort  thereto;  and  no  person  engaged  in  the 
military  or  naval  service  of  the  United  States  shall,  under  any  pretence 
whatever,  assume  to  decide  on  the  validity  of  the  claim  of  any  person  to 
the  service  or  labor  of  any  other  person,  or  surrender  up  any  such  per- 
son to  the  claimant,  on  pain  of  being  dismissed  from  the  service. 

And  I  do  hereby  enjoin  upon  and  order  all  persons  engaged  in  the 
i  tflitary  and  naval  service  of  the  United  States  to  observe,  obey,  and  en- 
t\  rce,  within  their  respective  spheres  of  service,  the  act  and  section? 
ai  >ve  recited. 

/nd  the  Executive  will  in  due  time  recommend  that  all  citizens  of  the 
United  States  who  shall  have  remained  loyal  thereto  throughout  the 
rebellion,  shall  (upon  the  restoration  of  the  constitutional  relation  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  their  respective  States  and  people,  if 
that  relation  shall  have  been  suspended  or  disturbed)  be  compensated 
for  all  losses  by  acts  of  the  United  States,  including  the  loss  of 
slaves. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the  seal 
of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  twenty-second  day  of  Sep- 
tember, in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
[l.  s.]     sixty-two,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  the 
eighty-seventh. 

Abeaham  Lincoln. 
By  the  President : 

William  H.  Sewabd,  Secretary  of  State. 

The  issuing  of  this  proclamation  created  the  deepest 
interest,  not  nnmixed  with  anxiety,  in  the  public  mind. 
The  opponents  of  the  Administration  in  the  loyal  States, 
as  well  as  the  sympathizers  with  secession  everywhere, 
insisted  that  it  afforded  unmistakable  evidence  that  the 
object  of  the  war  was,  what  they  had  always  declared  it 
to  be,  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  not  the  restoration  of 
the  Union  ;  and  they  put  forth  the  most  vigorous  efforts 
to  arouse  public  sentiment  against  the  Administration  on 
this  ground.  They  were  met,  however,  by  the  clear  and 
explicit  declaration  of  the  document  itself,  in  which  the 
President  "  proclaimed  and  declared"  that  " hereafter,  as 
heretofore,  the  war  will  be  prosecuted  for  the  object  of 
practically  restoring  the  constitutional  relation  between 


260  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

the  United  Slates  and  each  of  the  States  and  the  people 
thereof,  in  which  that  relation  is  or  may  be  suspended  or 
disturbed."  This  at  once  made  it  evident  that  emancipa- 
tion, as  provided  for  in  the  proclamation,  as  a  war  meas- 
ure, was  subsidiary  and  subordinate  to  the  paramount 
object  of  the  war — the  restoration  of  the  Union  and  the 
re-establishment  of  the  authority  of  the  Constitution ;  and 
in  this  sense  it  was  favorably  received  by  the  great  body 
of  the  loyal  people  of  the  United  States.  I 

It  only  remains  to  be  added,  in  this  connection,  that  ot 
the  1st  of  January,  1863,  the  President  followed  this 
measure  by  issuing  the  following 

PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas,  on  the  22d  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  containing,  among  other  things,  the  fol 
lowing,  to  wit: — 

That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any 
States  or  designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof  shall  then  be  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and 
forever  free ;  and  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  in 
eluding  the  military  and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and 
maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to  re- 
press such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their 
actual  freedom. 

That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  aforesaid,  by  proc- 
lamation, designate  the  States  and  parts  of  States,  if  any,  in  which  the 
people  thereof  respectively  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States ;  and  the  fact  that  any  State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that 
day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by 
members  chosen  thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified 
voters  of  such  State  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the  absence  o;' 
strong  countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evidence  that  sue.'- 
State,  and  the  people  thereof,  are  not  then  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States. 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States, 
by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  army 
and  navy  of  the  United  States  in  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion  against 
the  authority  and  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and 
necessary  war  measure  for  suppressing  said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  first  day 
of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-three,  and  in  accordance  with  my  purpose  so  to  do,  publicly  pro- 
claimed for  the  full  period  of  one  hundred  days  from  the  day  first  above 


State  Papeks  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  261 

mentioned,  order  and  designate,  as  the  States  and  parts  of  States  wherein 
the  people  thereof  respectively  are  this  day  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States,  the  following,  to  wit: 

Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana  (except  the  parishes  of  St.  Bernard,  Plaque- 
mines, Jefferson,  St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St.  James,  Ascension,  Assumption, 
Terra  Bonne,  Lafourche,  Ste.  Marie,  St.  Martin,  and  Orleans,  including 
thfc  City  of  New  Orleans),  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South 
Carolina,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia  (except  the  forty-eight  countiei 
designated  as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berkeley,  Accomac, 
Northampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York,  Princess  Anne,  and  Norfolk,  inclu- 
ding the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth),  and  which  excepted  parts  are 
for  the  present  left  precisely  as  if  this  proclamation  were  not  issued. 

And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I  do  order 
and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  said  designated  States 
and  parts  of  States  are,  and  henceforward  shall  be,  free;  and  that  ihe 
Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and 
naval  authorities  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said 
persons. 

And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free  to  abstain 
from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self-defence;  and  I  recommend  to 
them  that,  in  all  cases  when  allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for  reasonable 
wages. 

And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons,  of  suitable 
condition,  will  be  received  into  the  armed  service  of  the  United  States,  to 
garrison  forts,  positions,  stations,  and  other  places,  and  to  man  vessels  of 
all  sorts  in  said  service. 

And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice,  warranted 
oy  the  Constitution  upon  military  necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate 
judgment  of  mankind,  and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  name,  and  caused  the 
ical  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year 
,  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixtTy-three,  ai-d  of 
the  independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-seventh. 

By  the  President:  Abraham  Lihcol*. 

William  II.  Sewabd,  Secretary  of  State. 


262  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATION  OF  1862. -THE  PRESIDENT   A>     j 
GENERAL  MoCLELLAN. 

General  MoClbllan  succeeds  McDowell. — The  President's  Order  fob 
an  Advance. — The  Movement  to  the  Peninsula. — Rebel  Evacuation 
of  Manassas. — Arrangements  for  the  Peninsular  Movement. — The 
President's  Letter  to  General  MoOlellan. — The  Rebel  Strength 

AT    YORKTOWN. THE   BATTLE   OF   WlLLIAMSBURG. McClELLAN'S  FEAR 

of  being  Overwhelmed. — The  President  to  McClellan. — Jackson's 
Raid  in  tee  Shenandoah  Vallet. — The  President  to  McClellan. — 
Seven  Pines  and  Fair  Oaks. — MoClellan's  Complaints  of  Mc- 
Dowell.— His  Continued  Delays. — Prepares  for  Defeat. — Calls 
for  more  Men. — His  Advice  to  the  President. — Preparations  to 
Concentrate  the  Army.— -General  Halleck  to  McClellan. — Ap- 
pointment of  General  Pope. — Imperative  Orders  to  McClellan.— 
MoClellan's  Failure  to  aid  Pope. — His  Excuses  for  Delay. — Pro- 
poses to  leave. — Pope  unaided. — Excuses  for  Franklin's  Delay. — 
His  Excuses  proved  Groundless. — His  alleged  Lack  of  Supplies. — 
Advance  into  Maryland.— The  President's  Letter  to  McClellan. 
— He  Protests  against  Delay. — McClellan  relieved  from  Com- 
mand.— Speech  by  the  President. 

The  repulse  of  the  national  forces  at  the  battle  oi  Bull 
Run  in  July,  1861,  aroused  the  people  of  the  loyal  States 
to  a  sense  of  the  magnitude  of  the  contest  which  had  been 
forced  upon  them.  It  stimulated  to  intoxication  the  pride 
and  ambition  of  the  rebels,  and  gave  infinite  encourage 
ment  to  their  efforts  to  raise  fresh  troops,  and  increase  the 
military  resources  of  their  Confederation.  Nor  did  the 
reverse  the  national  cause  had  sustained  for  an  instant 
damp  the  ardor  or-check  the  determination  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  people  of  the  loyal  States.  General  McDowell, 
the  able  and  accomplished  officer  who  commanded  the 
army  of  the  United  States  in  that  engagement,  conducted 
the  operations  of  the  day  with  signal  ability  ;  and  his 
defeat  was  due,  as  subsequent  disclosures  have  clearly 
shown,  far  more  to  accidents  for  which  others  were  re- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  263 

sponsible,  than  to  any  lack  of  skill  in  planning  the  hat- 
tie,  or  of  courage  and  generalship  on  the  field.  But  it 
was  the  first  considerable  engagement  of  the  war,  and  its 
loss  was  a  serious  and  startling  disappointment  to  the 
sanguine  expectations  of  the  people :  it  was  deemed  neces- 
sary therefore,  to  place  a  new  commander  at  the  head  of 
the  army  in  front  of  Washington.  General  McClellan, 
who  had  been  charged,  at  the  outset  of  the  war,  with 
operations  in  the  Department  of  the  Ohio,  and  who  had 
achieved  marked  success  in  clearing  Western  Virginia  of 
the  rebel  troops,  was  summoned  to  Washington  on  the 
22d  of  July,  and  on  the  27th  assumed  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  Although  then  in  command  only 
of  a  department,  General  McClellan,  with  an  ambition 
and  a  presumption  natural,  perhaps,  to  his  age  and  the 
circumstances  of  his  advancement,  addressed  his  atten- 
tion to  the  general  conduct  of  the  war  in  all  sections  of 
the  country,  and  favored  the  Government  and  Lieut  enant- 
General  Scott  with  several  elaborate  and  meritorious  let- 
ters of  advice,  as  to  the  method  most  proper  to  be  pur- 
sued for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  He  soon,  how- 
ever, found  it  necessary  to  attend  to  the  preparation  of 
the  army  under  his  command  for  an  immediate  resumption 
of  hostilities.  Fresh  troops  in  great  numbers  speedily 
poured  in  from  the  Northern  States,  and  were  organized 
and  disciplined  for  prompt  and  effective  service.  The 
number  of  troops  in  and  about  the  Capital  when  General 
McClellan  assumed  command,  was  a  little  over  fifty  thou  - 
eand,  and  the  brigade  organization  of  General  McDowell 
I  ormed  the  basis  for  the  distribution  of  these  new  forces. 
By  the  middle  of  October  this  army  had  been  raised  to 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men,  with  an  artil- 
lery force  of  nearly  five  hundred  pieces — all  in  a  state  of 
excellent  discipline,  under  skilful  officers,  and  animated 
by  a  zealous  and  impatient  eagerness  to  renew  the  contest 
for  the  preservation  of  the  Constitution  and  Government 
of  the  United  States.  The  President  and  Secretary  of 
War  had  urged  the  division  of  the  army  into  corps 
(Parmee,  for  the  purpose  of  more  effective  service ;  but 


264.  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

General  McClellan  had  discouraged  and  thwarted  their 
endeavors  in  this  direction,  mainly  on  the  ground  that 
there  were  not  officers  enough  of  tried  ability  in  the  army 
to  be  intrusted  with  such  high  commands  as  this  division 
would  create. 

On  the  22d  of  October,  a  portion  of  our  forces  which 
had  been  ordered  to  cross  the  Potomac  above  Washing- 
ton, in  the  direction  of  Leesburg,  were  met  by  a  heavy 
force  of  the  enemy  at  Ball' s  Bluff,  repulsed  with  severe 
loss,  and  compelled  to  return.  The  circumstances  of  this 
disaster  excited  a  great  deal  of  dissatisfaction  in  the  pub- 
lic mind,  and  thi.3  was  still  further  aggravated  by  the  fact 
that  the  rebels  had  obtained,  and  been  allowed  to  hold, 
complete  control  of  the  Potomac  below  Washington,  so 
as  to  establish  a  virtual  and  effective  blockade  of  the 
Capital  from  that  direction.  Special  efforts  were  repeat- 
edly made  by  the  President  and  Navy  Department  to 
clear  the  banks  of  the  river  of  the  rebel  forces,  known  to 
be  small  in  number,  which  held  them,  but  it  was  found 
impossible  to  induce  General  McClellan  to  take  any  steps 
to  aid  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  result.  In  October 
he  had  promised  that  on  a  day  named,  four  thousand 
troops  should  be  ready  to  proceed  down  the  river  to  co- 
operate with  the  Potomac  flotilla  under  Captain  Craven  ; 
but  at  the  time  appointed  the  troops  did  not  arrive,  and 
General  McClellan  alleged,  as  a  reason  for  having  changed 
his  mind,  that  his  engineers  had  informed  him  that  so 
large  a  body  of  troops  could  not  be  landed.  The  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy  replied  that  the  landing  of  the  troop* 
was  a  matter  of  which  that  department  assumed  th 
responsibility ;  and  it  was  then  agreed  that  the  troops 
should  be  sent  down  the  next  night.  They  were  not 
sent,  however,  either  then  or  at  any  other  time,  for  which 
General  McClellan  assigned  as  a  reason  the  fear  that  such 
an  attempt  might  bring  on  a  general  engagement.  Cap- 
tain Craven  upon  this  threw  up  his  command,  and  the 
Potomac  remained  closed  to  the  vessels  and  transports  of 
the  United  States  until  it  was  opened  in  March  of  the  next 
year  by  the  voluntary  withdrawal  of  the  rebel  forces. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  265 

On  the  1st  of  November,  General  McClellan  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  President  to  succeed  General  Scott  in  the 
command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  Union,  remaining  in 
personal  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Hia 
attention  was  then  of  necessity  turned  to  the  direction  of 
army  movements,  and  to  the  conduct  of  political  affairs, 
.so  far  as  they  came  under  military  control,  in  the  more 
distant  sections  of  the  country.  But  no  movement  took 
place  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

The  season  had  been  unusually  favorable  for  military 
operations — the  troops  were  admirably  organized  and  dis 
ciplined,  and  in  the  highest  state  of  efficiency — in  num 
bers  they  were  known  to  be  far  superior  to  those  of  the 
rebels  opposed  to  them,  who  were  nevertheless  permit- 
ted steadily  to  push  their  approaches  towards  Washing- 
ton, while,  from  the  highest  officer  to  the  humblest  pri- 
vate, our  forces  were  all  animated  with  an  eager  desire  to 
be  led  against  the  enemies  of  their  country.  As  winter 
approached  without  any  indications  of  an  intended  move- 
ment of  our  armies,  the  public  impatience  rose  to  the> 
highest  point  of  discontent.  The  Administration  was 
everywhere  held  responsible  for  these  unaccountable  de- 
lays, and  was  freely  charged  by  its  opponents  with  a  de- 
sign to  protract  the  war  for  selfish  political  purposes  of 
its  own  ;  and  at  the  fall  election  the  public  dissatisfaction 
made  itself  manifest  by  adverse  votes  in  every  considera- 
le  State  where  elections  were  held. 

Unable  longer  to  endure  this  state  of  things,  President 
Lincoln  put  an  end  to  it  on  the  27th  of  January,  1862,  by 
issuing  the  following  order  : — 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington,  January  27,  184S2. 

Ordered,  That  the  twenty-second  day  of  February,  1862,  be  the  day  for 
a  general  movement  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  Unitf  tl  States 
against  the  insurgent  forces.  That  especially  the  army  at  and  about  For- 
tress Monroe,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac^  the  Army  of  Western  Virginia, 
the  army  near  Munfordsville,  Kentucky,  the  army  and  flotilla  at  Cairo, 
»nd  a  naval  force  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  be  ready  to  move  on  that  day. 

That  all  other  forces,  both  land  and  naval,  with  their  respective  com- 
manders, obey  existing  orders  for  the  time,  and  be  ready  to  obey  addi- 
tional orders  when  duly  given. 


266  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

That  the  heads  of  departments,  and  especially  the  Secretaries  of  "Wai 
and  of  the  Navy,  with  all  their  subordinates,  and  the  General-in-Chief 
with  all  other  commanders  and  subordinates  of  land  and  naval  force? 
will  severally  be  held  to  their  strict  and  full  responsibilities  for  prompt 
execution  of  this  order.  Abraham  Lisooln. 

This  order,  which  applied  to  all  the  armies  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  was  followed  four  days  afterwards  by  the  fol 
lowing  special  order  directed  to  General  McClellan  : — 

ExEotrrrvB  Mansion,  Washington,  January  81, 1662. 

Ordered,  That  all  the  disposable  force  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
after  providing  safely  for  the  defence  of  Washington,  be  formed  into  an 
expedition  for  the  immediate  object  of  seizing  and  occupying  a  point 
upon  the  railroad  southwest  of  what  is  known  as  Manassas  Junction,  all 
details  to  be  in  the  discretion  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  and  the  expe- 
dition to  move  before  or  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  February  next. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 

The  object  of  this  order  was  to  engage  the  rebel  army 
in  front  of  Washington  by  a  flank  attack,  and  by  its  de- 
feat relieve  the  Capital,  put  Richmond  at  our  mercy,  and 
break  the  main  strength  of  the  rebellion  by  destroying 
the  principal  army  arrayed  in  its  support.  Instead  of 
obeying  it,  General  McClellan  remonstrated  against  its 
execution,  and  urged  the  adoption  of  a  different  plan  of 
attack,  which  was  to  move  upon  Richmond  by  way  of 
the  Chesapeake  Bay,  the  Rappahannock  River,  and  a 
land  march  across  the  country  from  Urbana,  leaving  the. 
rebel  forces  in  position  at  Manassas  to  be  held  in  check, 
if  they  should  attempt  a  forward  movement,  only  by  the 
troops  in  the  fortifications  around  Washington.  As  the 
result  of  several  conferences  with  the  President,  he  ob- 
tained permission  to  state  in  writing  his  objections  to  his 
plan — the  President  meantime  sending  him  the  following 
letter  of  inquiry : — 

Kxboutivb  Mansion,  "Washington,  February  8. 1M1 
My  Dear  Sir: — You  and  I  have  distinct  and  different  plans  for  a 
movement  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac :  yours  to  be  done  by  the  Chesa- 
peake, up  the  Rappahannock  to  Urbana,  and  across  land  to  the  terminus 
of  the  railroal  on  the  York  River ;  mine  to  move  directly  to  a  point  on 
the  railroad  southwest  of  Manassas. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  267 

li  you  will  give  satisfactory  answers  to  the  following  questions,  I  shall 
gladly  yield  my  plan  to  yours : — 

1st.  Does  not  your  plan  involve  a  greatly  larger  expenditure  of  time 
*nd  nconry  than  mine? 

2d.  W  herein  is  a  victory  more  certain  by  your  plan  than  mine  ? 

3d.  Wherein  is  a  victory  more  valuable  by  your  plan  than  mine? 

4th.  In  fact,  would  it  not  be  less  valuable  in  this :  that  it  would  break 
ao  great  line  of  the  enemy's  communications,  while  mine  would? 

5th.  In  case  of  disaster,  would  not  a  retreat  be  more  difficult  by  your 

plan  than  mine  ? 

Yours,  truly,  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Major-General  McOlellan. 

General  McClellan  sent  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  un- 
der date  of  February  3d,  a  very  long  letter,  presenting 
strongly  the  advantage  possessed  by  the  rebels  in  hold- 
ing a  central  defensive  position,  from  which  they  could 
with  a  small  force  resist  any  attack  on  either  flank,  con- 
centrating their  main  strength  upon  the  other  for  a  deci- 
sive action.  The  uncertainties  of  the  weather,  the  neces- 
sity of  having  long  lines  of  communication,  and  the  prob- 
able indecisiveness  even  of  a  victory,  if  one  should  be 
gained,  were  urged  against  the  President's  plan.  So 
strongly  was  General  McClellan  in  favor  of  his  own  plan 
of  operations,  that  he  said  he  "should  prefer  the  move 
from  Fortress  Monroe  as  a  base,  to  an  attack  upon  Ma- 
nassas." The  President  was  by  no  means  convinced  by 
General  McClellan' s  reasoning;  but  in  consequence  of 
his  steady  resistance  and  unwillingness  to  enter  upon  the 
execution  of  any  other  plan,  he  assented  to  a  submission 
of  the  matter  to  a  council  of  twelve  officers  held  late  in 
February,  at  head-quarters.  The  result  of  that  council 
was,  a  decision  in  favor  of  moving  by  way  of  the  lower 
Chesapeake  and  the  Rappahannock — seven  of  the  Gen- 
erals present,  viz.,  Fitz-John  Porter,  Franklin,  W.  F. 
Smith,  McCall,  Blenker,  Andrew  Porter,  and  Naglee, 
voting  in  favor  of  it,  as  did  Keyes  also,  with  the  qualifi- 
cation that  the  army  should  not  move  until  the  rebels 
were  driven  from  the  Potomac,  and  Generals  McDowell, 
Sumner,  Heintzelman,  and  Barnard,  voting  against  it. 

In  this  decision  the  President  acquiesced,  and  on  the 


268  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

8tli  of  March  issued  two  general  war  orders,  the  first 
directing  the  Major-General  commanding  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  to  proceed  forthwith  to  organize  that  part  of 
said  army  destined  to  enter  upon  active  operations  into 
four  army  corps,  to  be  commanded,  the  first  "by  General 
McDowell,  the  second  by  General  Sumner,  the  third  by 
leneral  Heintzelman,  and  the  fourth  by  General  Keyes. 
General  Banks  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  a  fifth 
corps.  It  also  appointed  General  Wadsworth  Military 
Governor  at  Washington,  and  directed  the  order  to  be 
"  executed  with  such  promptness  and  dispatch  as  m  t  to 
delay  the  commencement  of  the  operations  already  di- 
rected to  be  undertaken  by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  ' 
The  second  of  these  orders  was  as  follows : — 

Executive  Mansion,  "Washington,  March  8, 1862. 

Ordered,  That  no  change  of  the  base  of  operations  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  shall  be  made  without  leaving  in  and  about  Washington 
such  a  force  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the  General-in-Chief  and  the  com- 
manders of  army  corps,  shall  leave  said  city  entirely  secure. 

That  no  more  than  two  army  corps  (about  fifty  thousand  troops)  ot 
said  Army  of  the  Potomac  shall  be  moved  en  route  for  a  new  base  of 
operations  until  the  navigation  of  the  Potomac,  from  Washington  to  the 
Chesapeake  Bay,  shall  be  freed  from  the  enemy's  batteries,  and  other 
obstructions,  or  until  the  President  shall  hereafter  give  express  per- 
mission. 

That  any  movement  as  aforesaid,  en  route  for  a  new  base  of  operations, 
which  may  be  ordered  by  the  General-in-Chief,  and  which  may  be  in- 
tended to  move  upon  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  shall  begin  to  move  upon  the 

y  as  early  as  the  eighteenth  March  instant,  and  the  General-in-Chief 
ihall  be  responsible  that  it  moves  as  early  as  that  day. 

Ordered,  That  the  army  and  navy  co-operate  in  an  immediate  effort  to 
capture  the  enemy's  batteries  upon  the  Potomac  between  Washington 
and  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  Abraham  Lincoln. 

L.  Thomas,  Adjutant- General. 

This  order  was  issued  on  the  8th  of  March.  On  the 
9th,  information  was  received  by  General  McClellan,  at 
Washington,  that  the  enemy  had  abandoned  his  position 
in  front  of  that  city.  He  at  once  crossed  the  Potomac, 
and  on  the  same  night  issued  orders  for  an  immediate  ad- 
vance of  the  whole  army  towards  Manassas — not  with 


►State  Pappus  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  2&J 

any  intention,  as  lie  lias  since  explained,  of  pursuing  the 
rebels,  and  taking  advantage  of  their  retreat,  but  to  "gel 
rid  of  superfluous  baggage  and  other  impediments  which 
accumulate  so  easily  around  an  army  encamped  for  a  long 
time  in  one  locality"— to  give  the  troops  "  some  expe- 
rience on  the  march  and  bivouac  preparatory  to  the  cam- 
paign," and  to  afford  them  also  a  "good  intermediate 
step  between  the  quiet  and  comparative  comfort  of  the 
camps  around  Washington  and  the  vigor  of  active  opera- 
tions."* These  objects,  in  General  McClellan's  opinio  j 
were  sufficiently  accomplished  by  what  the  Prince  de 
Joinville,  of  his  staff,  styles  a  "promenade"  of  the  army 
to  Manassas,  where  they  learned,  from  personal  inspec- 
tion, that  the  rebels  had  actually  evacuated  that  position  ; 
and  on  the  15th,  orders  were  issued  for  a  return  of  the 
forces  to  Alexandria. 

On  the  11th  of  March,  the  President  issued  another  or- 
der, stating  that  "Major-General  McClellan  having  per- 
sonally taken  the  field  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  until  otherwise  ordered,  he  is  relieved  from  the 
command  of  the  other  military  departments,  retaining 
command  of  the  Department  of  the  Potomac."  Major- 
General  Halleck  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  De- 
partment of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Mountain  Depai  v 
ment  was  created  for  Major-General  Fremont.  All  the 
commanders  of  departments  were  also  required  to  report 
directly  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

On  the  13th  of  March,  a  council  of  war  was  held  at 
head-quarters,  then  at  Fairfax  Court-House,  by  which  V 
was  decided  that,  as  the  enemy  had  retreated  behind  t 
.Rappahannock,  operations  against  Richmond  could  becu 
be  conducted  from  Fortress  Monroe,  provided : — 

1st.  That  the  enemy's  vessel,  Merrimac,  can  be  neutralized. 

2d.  That  the  means  of  transportation,  sufficient  for  an  immediate  trans 
fer  of  the  force  to  its  new  base,  can  be  ready  at  Washington  and  Alexan- 
dria to  move  down  the  Potomac ;  and, 

3d.  That  a  naval  auxiliary  force  can  be  had  to  silence,  or  aid  in  silen 
•ing,  the  enemy's  batteries  on  the  York  River. 

*  See  General  MciTlellafc  s  Report,  dated  Aueust  4,  1863. 


270  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

4th.  That  the  forcfl  to  be  left  to  eovor  Washington  shall  be  such  as  tc 
ifive  an  entire  feeling  of  security  for  its  safety  from  menace. 

Note. — That  with  the  forts  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Potomac  fully 
garrisoned,  and  those  on  the  left  bank  occupied,  a  covering  force  in  front 
of  the  Virginia  line  of  twenty-five  thousand  men  would  suffice.  (Keyes, 
Heintzelman,  and  McDowell.) 

A  total  of  forty  thousand  men  for  the  defenco  of  the  city  would 
iufEse      (Sumner.) 

Upon  receiving  a  report  of  this  decision,  the  following 
oinmunication  was  at  once  addressed  to  the  commanding 
general : — 

War  Department,  March  18, 1862. 

The  President  having  considered  the  plan  of  operations  agreed  upon 
by  yourself  and  the  commanders  of  army  corps,  makes  no  objection  to 
the  same,  but  gives  the  following  directions  as  to  its  execution : — 

1st.  Leave  such  force  at  Manassas  Junction  as  shall  make  it  entirely 
certain  that  the  enemy  shall  not  repossess  himself  of  that  position  aD  1 
line  of  communication. 

2d.  Leave  Washington  entirely  secure. 

3d.  Move  the  remainder  of  the  force  down  the  Potomac,  choosing  » 
new  base  at  Fortress  Monroe,  or  anywhere  between  here  and  there;  or, 
at  all  events,  move  such  remainder  of  the  array  at  once  in  pursuit  of  tb  * 
enemy  by  some  route.  Edwin  M.  Stanton, 

Secretary  of  War. 

Major-General  George  B.  MoOlellan. 

It  will  readily  be  seen,  from  these  successive  orders, 
that  the  President,  in  common  with  the  whole  country, 
had  been  greatly  pained  by  the  long  delay  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  to  move  against  the  enemy  while  en- 
camped at  Manassas,  and  that  this  feeling  was  converted 
itp  chagrin  and  mortification  when  the  rebels  were 
a  lowed  to  withdraw  from  that  position  without  the 
slightest  molestation,  and  without  their  design  being  even 
suspected  until  it  had  been  carried  into  complete  and  suc- 
cessful execution.  He  was  impatiently  anxious,  there- 
fore, that  no  more  time  should  be  lost  in  delays.  In 
reply  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  General  McClellan,  before 
embarking  for  the  Peninsula,  communicated  his  intention 
of  reaching,  without  loss  of  time,  the  field  of  what  he 
believed  would  be  a  decisive  battle,  which  he  expected 


state  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln  271 

to  fight  between  West  Point  and  Richmond.  On  the  31st 
of  March,  the  President,  out  of  deference  to  the  importu- 
nities of  General  Fremont  and  his  friends,  and  from  a  be- 
lief that  this  officer  could  make  good  use  of  a  larger  force 
than  he  then  had  at  his  command  in  the  Mountain  Depart- 
ment, ordered  General  Blenker's  division  to  leave  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  and  join  him ;  a  decision  which  h< 
announced  to  General  McClellan  in  the  following  let 
ter  .— 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington,  March  81, 1862. 

My  Dear  Sir: — This  morning  I  felt  constrained  to  order  Blenker'i 
division  to  Fremont,  and  I  write  this  to  assure  you  that  1  did  so  with 
great  pain,  understanding  that  you  Avould  wish  it  otherwise.  If  you  could 
know  the  full  pressure  of  the  case,  I  am  confident  that  you  would  justify 
it,  even  beyond  a  mere  acknowledgment  that  the  Commander-in-Ohie/ 
may  order  what  he  pleases. 

Yours,  very  truly,  A.  Lincoln. 

Major-General  McClellan. 

Genera]  Banks,  who  had  at  first  been  ordered  by  Gen- 
eral McClellan  to  occupy  Manassas,  and  thus  cover 
Washington,  was  directed  by  him,  on  the  1st  of  April,  to 
throw  the  rebel  General  Jackson  well  back  from  Win- 
chester, and  then  move  on  Staunton  at  a  time  "  nearly 
coincident  with  his  own  move  on  Richmond  ;"  though 
General  McClellan  expressed  the  fear  that  General  Banks 
"could  not  be  ready  in  time"  for  that  movement.  The 
four  corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  destined  for  acth 
operations  by  way  of  the  Peninsula,  were  ordered  to  em 
bark,  and  forwarded  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  Portress 
Monroe.  On  the  1st  of  April,  General  McClellan  wrote 
to  the  Secretary  of  war,  giving  a  report  of  the  dispositions 
he  had  made  for  the  defence  of  Washington  ;  and  on  the 
2d,  General  Wadsworth  submitted  a  statement  of  the  forces 
under  his  command,  which  he  regarded  as  entirely  inade- 
quate to  the  service  required  of  them.  The  President  re- 
ferred the  matter  to  Adjutant- General  Thomas  and  Genera] 
E.  A.  Hitchcock,  who  made  a  report  on  the  same  day,  in 
which  they  decided  that  the  force  left  by  General  McClel- 
lan  was  not    sufficient   to  make  Washington  "  entirely 


272  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

secure,"  as  the  President  had  required  in  his  ordei  ol 
March  13 ;  nor  was  it  as  large  as  the  council  of  officers 
held  at  Fairfax  Court- House  on  the  same  day  had  ad- 
j  udged  to  be  necessary.  In  accordance  with  this  decision, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  the  Capital  safe,  the  army 
-jorps  of  General  McDowell  was  detached  from  General 

1  cClellan's  immediate  command,  and  ordered  to  report 
to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

On  reaching  Fortress  Monroe,  General  McClellan  found 
Commodore  Goldsborough,  who  commanded  on  that 
naval  station,  unwilling  to.  send  any  considerable  portion 
of  his  force  up  the  York  River,  as  he  was  employed  in 
watching  the  Merrimack,  which  had  closed  the  James 
River  against  us.  He  therefore  landed  at  the  Fortress, 
and  commenced  his  march  up  the  Peninsula,  having 
reached  the  Warwick  River,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Yorktown,  which  had  been  fortified,  and  was  held  by  a 
rebel  force  of  about  eleven  thousand  men,  under  General 
Magruder— a  part  of  them,  however,  being  across  the 
river  at  Gloucester.  He  here  halted  to  reconnoitre  the 
position  ;  and  on  the  6th  wrote  to  the  President  that  he 
had  but  eighty-five  thousand  men  fit  for  duty — that  the 
whole  line  of  the  Warwick  River  was  strongly  fortified — 
that  it  was  pretty  certain  he  was  to  "have  the  whole 
force  of  the  enemy  on  his  hands,  probably  not  less  than 
a  hundred  thousand  men,  and  probably  more,"  and  that 

e  should  commence  siege  operations  as  soon  as  he  could 
^et  up  his  train.  He  entered,  accordingly,  upon  this 
work,  telegraphing  from  time  to  time  complaints  that  he 
was  not  properly  supported  by  the  Government,  and 
asking  for  re-enforcements. 

On  the  9th  of  April,  President  Lincoln  addressed  him 
the  following  letter : — 

■Washington,  April  9, 1662. 

My  Dear  Sir  : — Your  dispatches,  complaining  that  you  are  not  prop- 
erly sustained,  while  they  do  not  offend  me,  do  pain  me  very  much. 

Blenker's  division  was  withdrawn  from  you  before  you  left  here,  and 
you  know  the  pressure  under  which  I  did  it,  and,  as  I  thought,  acqui- 
esced in  it — certainly  not  without  reluctance. 

After  70a  left,  I  ascertained  that  less  than  twenty  thousand  unorgajr 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  273 

ixed  men,  without  a  single  field  battery,  were  all  you  designed  to  be  left 
for  the  defence  of  Washington  and  Manassas  Junction,  and  part  of  thii 
even  was  to  go  to  General  Hooker's  old  position.  General  Banks's  <;orps, 
once  designed  for  Manassas  Junction,  was  diverted  and  tied  up  on  the 
line  of  Winchester  and  Strasburg,  and  could  not  leave  it  without  again 
exposing  the  Upper  Potomac  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad.  This 
presented,  or  would  present,  when  McDowell  and  Sumner  should  be  gone, 
a  great  temptation  to  the  enemy  to  turn  back  from  the  Rappahannock  an& 
sack  Washington.  My  implicit  order  that  Washington  should,  by  th 
judgment  of  all  the  commanders  of  army  corps,  be  left  entirely  secure, 
had  been  neglected.  It  was  precisely  this  that  drove  me  to  detain  Mr  j 
Do  well. 

I  do  not  forget  that  I  was  satisfied  with  your  arrangement  to  leave 
Banks  at  Manassas  Junction :  but  when  that  arrangement  was  broken 
up,  and  nothing  was  substituted  for  it,  of  course  I  was  constrained  to 
substitute  something  for  it  myself.  And  allow  me  to  ask,  do  you  really 
think  I  should  permit  the  line  from  Richmond,  vid  Manassas  Junction,  to 
this  city,  to  be  entirely  open,  except  what  resistance  could  be  presented 
by  less  than  twenty  thousand  unorganized  troops?  This  is  a  question 
which  the  country  will  not  allow  me  to  evade. 

There  is  a  curious  mystery  about  the  number  of  troops  now  with  you. 
When  I  telegraphed  you  on  the  sixth,  saying  you  had  over  a  hundred 
thousand  with  you,  I  had  just  obtained  from  the  Secretary  of  War  a  state- 
ment taken,  as  he  said,  from  your  own  returns,  making  one  hundred  and 
eight  thousand  then  with  you  and  en  route  to  you.  You  now  say  you 
will  have  but  eighty -five  thousand  when  all  en  route  to  you  shall  have 
reached  you.  How  can  the  discrepancy  of  twenty-throe  thousand  be 
accounted  for? 

As  to  General  Wool's  command,  I  understand  it  is  doing  for  you  pre- 
cisely what  a  like  number  of  your  own  would  have  to  do  if  that  command 
was  away. 

I  suppose  the  whole  force  which  has  gone  forward  for  you  is  with  you 
by  this  time.  And  if  so,  I  think  it  is  the  precise  time  for  you  to  strike  a 
blow.  By  delay,  the  enemy  will  relatively  gain  upon  you — that  is,  be 
will  gain  faster  by  fortifications  and  re-enforcements  than  you  can  by  re- 
enforcements  alone.  And  once  more  let  me  tell  you,  it  is  indispensable 
to  you  that  you  strike  a  blow.  I  am  powerless  to  help  this.  You  will 
do  me  the  justice  to  remember  I  always  insisted  that  going  down  the  bar 
in  search  of  a  field,  instead  of  fighting  at  or  near  Manassas,  was  only 
shifting  and  not  surmounting  a  difficulty ;  that  we  would  find  the  same 
enemy,  aiui  the  same  or  equal  intrenchments,  at  either  place.  The  coun- 
try will  not  fail  to  note,  is  now  noting,  that  the  present  hesitation  to 
move  upon  an  intrenched  enemy  is  but  the  story  of  Manassas  repeated. 

1  beg  to  assure  you  that  I  have  never  written  you  or  spoken  to  you  in 
greater  kindness  of  feeling  than  now,  nor  with  a  fuller  purpose  to  sustair 
18 


274  1/he  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

you,  so  far  as,  in  my  most  anxious  judgment,  I  consistently  can.     Bu 
you  must  act.  Yours,  very  truly, 

Abraham  Lincoln. 
Major-General  MoClellan. 

In  this  letter  the  President  only  echoed  the  impatience 
and  eagerness  of  the  whole  country.  The  most  careful 
inquiries  which  General  Wool,  in  command  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  had  been  able  to  make,  satisfied  him  that  "York 
iiown  was  not  held  by  any  considerable  force  ;  and  sub- 
sequent disclosures  have  made  it  quite  certain  that  this 
force  was  so  utterly  inadequate  to  the  defence  of  the 
position,  that  a  prompt  movement  upon  it  would  have 
caused  its  immediate  surrender,  and  enabled  our  army  to 
advance  at  once  upon  Richmond.  General  McClellan 
decided,  however,  to  approach  it  by  a  regular  siege  ;  and 
it  was  not  until  this  design  had  become  apparent,  that  the 
rebel  Government  began  to  re-enforce  Magruder.*    He 

*  The  following  extract  from  the  official  report  of  Major-General  Magru  ler, 
dated  May  3d,  1862,  and  published  by  order  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  is  con- 
clusive as  to  the  real  strength  of  the  force  which  General  McClellan  had  in  front 
of  him  at  Yorktown : — 

Headquarters,  Department  of  the  Peninsula,  ) 
Lee's  Farm,  May  8, 1862. 
General  8.  Cooper,  A.  and  I.  G.  0.  8.  A. : 

General  :— Deeming  it  of  vital  importance  to  hold  Yorktown  on  York  Eiver,  and  Mulberry 
Island  on  James  River,  and  to  keep  the  enemy  in  check  by  an  intervening  line  until  the  author 
ltles  might  take  such  steps  as  should  be  deemed  necessary  to  meet  a  serious  advance  of  the  ene 
my  in  the  Peninsula,  I  felt  compelled  to  dispose  of  my  forces  in  such  a  manner  as  to  accomplish 
these  objects  with  the  least  risk  possible  under  the  circumstances  of  great  hazard  which  sur- 
rounded the  little  army  1  commanded. 

I  had  prepared,  as  my  real  line  of  defence,  positions  in  advance  at  Ilarwood's  and  Young'l 

Mills.    Both  flanks  of  this  line  were  defended  bv  boggy  and  difficult  streams  and  swamps. 

*        *        In  my  opinion,  this  advanced  line,  with  its  flank  defence^  might  have  been  held 

,     twenty  thousand  troops.        *        *        *        Finding  tnyforc.es  too  weak  to  attempt  the  de 

it  of  this  line,  I  was  compelled  to  prepare  to  receive  the  enemy  on  a  second  lino  on  War- 
wick Eiver.  This  line  was  incomplete  in  its  preparations.  Keeping  then  only  small  bodies  of 
troops  at  Harwood's  and  Young's  Mills,  and  on  Ship  Point,  I  distributed  my  remaining  forcei 
along  the  Warwick  line,  embracing  a  front  from  Yorktown  to  Minor's  farm  of  twelve  miles,  and 
from  the  latter  place  to  Mulberry  Island  Point  one  and  a  half  miles.  I  was  compelled  U  place 
in  Gloucester  Point,  Yorktown,  and  Mulberry  Is ; and,  fixed  garrisons,  amounting  to  six  thou- 
tand  men,  my  whole  force  being  eleven  tlwusand.  so  that  it  will  be  seen  thai  the  balance  of 
th*  line,  embracing  a  length  of  thirteen  miles,  was  defended  by  about  five  thousand 
■MA 

After  the  reconnoissances  in  great  force  from  Fortress  Monroe  and  Newport  News,  the  enonv, 
•a  the  8d  of  April,  advanced  and  took  possession  of  Harwood's  Mill  He  advanced  in  two  heavy 
•oluinns,  one  along  the  old  York  road,  and  the  other  along  the  Warwick  road,  and  on  the  6th  ef 
April  appeared  simultaneously  along  the  whole  pnrt  of  our  line  from  Minor's  farm  to  Yorktowt 
I  La/e  no  accurate  data  upon  which  to  bw  «->i  exact  statement  of  his  force;  bit  from  varioal 


State  Pajhks  os  Abraham  Lincoln.  275 

continued  his  applications  to  the  Government  for  more 
troops,  more  cannon,  more  transportation — ail  which  were 
sent  forward  to  him  as  rapidly  as  possible,  being  taken 
mainly  from  McDowell's  corps.  On  the  14th  of  April, 
General  Franklin,  detached  from  that  corps,  reported  to 
General  McClellan,  near  Yorktown,  but  his  troops  re- 
mained on  board  the  transports.  A  month  was  spent  in 
this  way,  the  President  urging  action  in  the  most  earnest 
manner,  and  the  commanding  general  delaying  from  day 
to  day  his  reiterated  promises  to  commence  operations 
immediately.  At  last,  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  May, 
it  was  discovered  that  the  rebels  had  been  busy  for  a  day 
or  two  in  evacuating  Yorktown,  and  that  the  last  of  their 
columns  had  left  that  place,  all  their  supply  trains  hav- 
ing been  previously  removed  on  the  day  and  night  pre- 
ceding. General  McClellan,  in  announcing  this  event  to 
the  Government,  added  that  "  no  time  would  be  lost"  in 
the  pursuit,  and  that  he  should  "push  the  enemy  to  the 
wall."  General  Stoneman,  with  a  column  of  cavalry, 
was  at  once  sent  forward  to  overtake  the  retreating 
enemy,  which  he  succeeded  in  doing  on  the  same  day, 
and  was  repulsed.  On  the  5th,  the  forces  ordered  for- 
ward by  General  McClellan  came  up,  and  found  a  very 
strong  rear-guard  of  the  rebels  strongly  fortified,  about 
two  miles  east  of  Williamsburg,  and  prepared  to  dispute 
the  advance  of  the  pursuing  troops.     It  had  been  known 

•ourcea  of  information  I  was  satisfied  that  I  had  before  me  the  enemy's  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
under  the  command  of  General  McClellan,  with  the  exception  of  the  two  corps  d'armee  of 
ftanks  and  McDowell  respectively — forming  an  aggregate  number  certainly  of  not  leas  than  one 
oundred  thousand,  since  ascertained  to  have  been  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men. 

On  every  portion  of  my  lines  he  attacked  us  with  a  furious  cannonading  and  musketry,  which 
was  responded  to  with  effect  by  our  batteries  and  troops  of  the  line.  His  skirmishers  also  were 
well  thrown  forward  on  this  and  the  succeeding  day,  and  energetically  felt  our  whole  line,  but 
were  everywhere  repulsed  by  the  steadiness  of  our  troops.  Thus,  with  Jive  thousand  men, 
exclusive  of  the  garrisons,  we  stopped  arid  held  in  check  over  one  hundred  thousand  of  th4 
enemy.  Every  preparation  was  made  in  anticipation  of  another  attack  by  the  enemy.  Th« 
men  slept  in  the  trenches  and  under  arms,  but,  to  my  utter  surprise,  he  permitted  day  after 
day  to  elapse  vrithout  an  assault. 

In  a  few  days  the  object  of  his  delay  was  apparent.  In  every  direction  in  front  of  our  lines, 
through  the  intervening  woods  and  along  the  open  fields,  earthwork*  began  to  appear. 
Through  the  energetic  action  of  the  Government  re-enforcements  began  to  pour  in,  and  e>.ich 
hour  Vie  army  of  the  Peninsula  grew  stronger  and  stronger,  until  anxiety  passed  from  7»j 
as  to  the  result  of  an  attack  upon  us.       *       *       * 

J.  Baskhead  Maqbitdkb,  Major- General. 


^76  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

from  tlie  beginning  that  a  very  formidable  line  of  forta 
had  been  erected  here,  and  it  ought  to  have  been  equally 
well  known  by  the  commanding  general  that  the  retreat- 
ing enemy  would  avail  himself  of  them  to  delay  the 
pursuit  General  McClellan,  however,  had  evidently 
anticipated  no  resistance.  He  remained  at  his  head-quar- 
ters, two  miles  in  the  rear  of  Yorktown,  until  summoned 
by  special  messenger  in  the  afternoon  of  the  5th,  who 
announced  to  him  that  our  troops  had  encountered  the 
enemy  strongly  posted,  that  a  bloody  battle  was  in 
progress,  and  that  his  presence  on  the  field  was  impera- 
tively required.  Replying  to  the  messenger  that  he  had 
supposed  our  troops  in  front  "  could  attend  to  that  little 
matter,"  General  McClellan  left  his  head-quarters  at  about 
half-past  two,  p.  m.,  and  reached  the  field  at  five.  Gen- 
eral Hooker,  General  Heintzelman,  and  General  Sumner 
had  been  fighting  under  enormous  difficulties,  and  with 
heavy  losses,  during  all  the  early  part  of  the  day ;  and 
just  as  the  commanding  general  arrived,  General  Kearney 
had  re- enforced  General  Hooker,  and  General  Hancock 
had  executed  a  brilliant  ilank  movement,  which  turned 
the  fortunes  of  the  day,  and  left  our  forces  in  possession 
of  the  field. 

General  McClellan  does  not  seem  to  have  understood 
that  this  affair  was  simply  an  attempt  of  the  rebel  rear- 
guard to  cover  the  retreat  of  the  main  force,  and  that 
when  it  had  delayed  the  pursuit  it  had  accomplished  its 
whole  purpose.  He  countermanded  an  order  for  the 
advance  of  two  divisions,  and  ordered  them  back  to 
Yorktown ;  and  in  a  dispatch  sent  to  the  War  Depart- 
ment the  same  night,  he  treats  the  battle  as  an  engage- 
ment with  the  whole  rebel  army.  "I  find,"  he  says, 
1 '  General  Joe  Johnston  in  front  of  me  in  strong  force, 
probably  greater,  a  good  deal,  than  my  own."  He  again 
complains  of  the  inferiority  of  his  command,  says  he  will 
do  all  he  can  "  with  the  force  at  his  disposal,"  and  that 
he  should  "run  the  risk  of  at  least  holding  them  in  check 
here  (at  Williamsburg)  while  he  resumed  the  original 
plan" — which  was  to  send  Franklin  to  West  Point  by 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  277 

water.  Bat  the  direct  pursuit  of  the  retreating  rebel 
aimy  was  abandoned — owing,  as  the  General  said,  to  the 
bad  state  of  the  roads,  which  rendered  it  impracticable. 
Some  five  days  were  spent  at  Williamsburg,  which  en- 
abled the  rebels,  notwithstanding  the  "state  of  the 
roads,"  to  withdraw  their  whole  force  across  the  Chick- 
. i hominy,  and  establish  themselves  within  the  fortifica. 
lions  in  front  of  Richmond.  On  the  morning  of  the  7th, 
General  Franklin  landed  at  West  Point,  but  too  late  tc 
intercept  the  main  body  of  the  retreating  army ;  he  was 
met  by  a  strong  rear-guard,  with  whom  he  had  a  sharp 
but  fruitless  engagement. 

The  York  River  had  been  selected  as  the  base  of 
operations,  in  preference  to  the  James,  because  it  "wa& 
in  a  better  position  to  effect  a  junction  with  any  troops 
that  might  move  from  Washington  on  the  Fredericksburg 
line  ;"*  and  arrangements  were  made  to  procure  supplies* 
for  the  army  by  that  route.  On  the  9th,  Norfolk  was 
evacuated  by  the  rebels,  all  the  troops  withdrawing  in 
safety  to  Richmond ;  and  the  city,  on  the  next  day,  was 
occupied  by  General  Wool.  On  the  11th,  the  formidable 
steamer  Merrimack,  which  had  held  our  whole  naval  force 
at  Fortress  Monroe  completely  in  check,  was  blown  up 
by  the  rebels  themselves,  and  our  vessels  attempted  to 
reopen  the  navigation  of  the  James  River,  but  were 
repulsed  by  a  heavy  battery  at  Drury's  Bluff,  eight 

.iles  below  Richmond.  After  waiting  for  several  days 
I  or  the  roads  to  improve,  the  main  body  of  the  army  waa 
put  in  motion  on  the  road  towards  Richmond,  which  was 
about  forty  miles  from  Williamsburg  ;  and,  on  the  16th, 
head-quarters  were  established  at  White  House,  at  the 
point  where  the  Richmond  Railroad  crosses  the  Pamun- 
key,  an  affluent  of  the  York  River— the  main  body  of  the 
army  lying  along  the  south  bank  of  the  Chickahominy,  a 
swampy  stream,  behind  which  the  rebel  army  had  in- 
trenched itself  for  the  defence  of  Richmond. 
General  McClellan  began  again  to  prepare  for  fighting 

*  Sae  General  McCle!tep'«  testimony— Report  of  Committee  oe  0o»4uet  of  th$ 
War,  yqI  I,  p.  431. 


278  The  Life.  Public  Services,  and 

the  "  decisive  battle'1  which  he  had  been  predicting  evei 
since  the  rebels  withdrew  from  Manassas,  but  which  they 
had  so  far  succeeded  in  avoiding.  A  good  deal  of  his  at- 
tention, however,  was  devoted  to  making  out  a  case  of 
neglect  against  the  Government.  On  the  10th  of  May, 
when  he  had  advanced  but  three  miles  beyond  Williams- 
burg, he  sent  a  long  dispatch  to  the  War  Department, 
reiterating  his  conviction  that  the  rebels  were  about  to 
dispute  his  advance  with  their  whole  force,  and  asking 
for  " every  man' '  the  Government  could  send  him.  If 
not  re-enforced,  he  said  he  should  probably  be  "obliged 
to  fight  nearly  double  his  numbers  strongly  intrenched." 
Ten  days  previously  the  official  returns  showed  that  he 
had  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  men  under  his  com- 
mand. On  the  14th,  he  telegraphed  the  President,  reit- 
erating his  fears  that  he  was  to  be  met  by  overwhelming 
numbers,  saying  that  he  could  not  bring  more  than  eighty 
thousand  men  into  the  field,  and  again  asking  for  "  every 
man"  that  the  War  Department  could  send  him.  Even 
if  more  troops  should  not.be  needed  for -military  pur- 
poses, he  thought  a  great  display  of  imposing  force  in 
the  capital  of  the  rebel  government  would  have  the  best 
moral  effect.  To  these  repeated  demands  the  President, 
through  the  Secretary  of  War,  on  the  18th  of  May,  made 
the  following  reply : — 

Washington,  May  18—2  p.  n 
General: — Your  dispatch  to  the  President,  asking  re-enforceraenU 
bas  been  received  and  carefully  considered. 

The  President  is  not  willing  to  uncover  the  Capital  entirely ;  and  it  i. 
believed  that  even  if  this  were  prudent,  it  would  require  more  time  to 
effect  a  junction  between  your  army  and  that  of  the  Rappahannock  by  the 
way  of  the  Potomac  and  York  River,  than  by  a  land  march.  In  order, 
therefore,  to  increase  the  strength  of  the  attack  upon  Richmond  at  the 
earliest  moment,  General  McDowell  has  been  ordered  to  march  upon  that 
city  by  the  shortest  route.  He  is  ordered,  keeping  himself  always  in  posi- 
tion, to  save  the  Capital  from  all  possible  attack,  so  to  operate  as  to  put 
his  left  wing  in  communication  with  your  right  wing,  and  you  are  in 
structed  to  co-operate  so  as  to  establish  this  communication  as  soon  as 
possible  by  extending  your  right  wing  to  the  north  of  Richmond. 

It  is  believed  that  this  communication  can  be  safely  established  eitnei 
yorth  or  south  of  the  Paraunkey  River. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  279 

fn  any  event,  you  will  be  able  to  prevent  the  main  body  of  the  enemy's 
forces  from  leaving  Richmond,  and  falling  in  overwhelming  force  upon 
General  McDowell.  He  will  move  with  between  thirty-fivo  and  fort) 
thousand  men. 

A  copy  of  the  instructions  to  General  McDowell  are  with  this.  The 
gpecific  task  assigned  to  his  command  has  been  to  provide  against  any 
danger  to  the  capital  of  the  nation. 

At  your  earliest  call  for  re- enforcements,  he  is  sent  forward  to  co-oper- 
ate in  the  reduction  of  Richmond,  but  charged,  in  attempting  this,  not  to 
uncover  the  City  of  Washington,  and  you  will  give  no  order,  either  before 
or  after  your  junction,  which  can  put  him  out  of  position  to  cover  this 
■jity.  You  and  ho  will  communicate  with  each  other  by  telegraph  or 
otherwise,  as  frequently  as  may  be  necessary  for  sufficient  co-operation. 
When  General  McDowell  is  in  position  on  your  right,  his  supplies  must 
be  drawn  from  West  Point,  and  you  will  instruct  your  staff  officers  to  be 
prepared  to  supply  him  by  that  route. 

The  President  desires  that  General  McDowell  retain  the  command  of 
the  Department  of  the  Rappahannock,  and  of  the  forces  with  which  he 
moves  forward. 

By  order  of  the  President.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 


In  reply  to  this,  on  the  21st  of  May,  General  McClellan 
repeated  his  declarations  of  the  overwhelming  force  of 
the  rebels,  and  urged  that  General  McDowell  should  join 
him  by  water  instead  of  by  land,  going  down  the  Rappa- 
hannock and  the  bay  to  Fortress  Monroe,  and  then  ascend- 
ing the  York  and  Pamunkey  Rivers.  He  feared  there 
was  "  little  hope  that  he  could  join  him  overland  in  time 
for  the  coming  battle.  Delays,"  he  says,  "on  my  part 
will  be  dangerous :  I  fear  sickness  and  demoralization. 
This  region  is  unhealthy  for  Northern  men,  and  unless 
cept  moving,  I  fear  that  our  soldiers  may  become  dis- 
couraged"— a  fear  that  was  partially  justified  by  the  ex- 
perience of  the  whole  month  succeeding,  during  which 
he  kept  them  idle.  He  complained  also  that  McDowell 
was  not  put  more  completely  under  his  command,  and 
declared  that  a  movement  by  land  would  uncover  Wash- 
ington quite  as  completely  as  one  by  water.  He  was 
busy  at  that,  time  in  bridging  the  Chickahominy,  and 
gave  no  instructions,  as  required,  for  supplying  McPew 
ell's  forces  on  their  arrivil  !f  West  Point 


280  The  Life,  Punic  Services,  and 

To  these  representations  lie  received  fiom  the  Presi 
dent  the  following  reply  : — 

Washington  May  24, 1862. 

I  left  General  McDowell's  camp  at  dark  last  evening.  Shields's  com- 
mand is  there,  but  it  is  so  worn  that  he  cannot  move  before  Mondaj 
morning,  the  26th.  We  have  so  thinned  our  line  to  get  troops  for  other 
places  that  it  was  broken  yesterday  at  Front  Royal,  with  a  probable  lost 
(o  us  of  one  regiment  infantry,  two  companies  cavalry,  putting  Genera- 
Banks  in  some  peril 

The  enemy's  forces,  under  General  Anderson,  now  opposing  Genera. I 
McDowell's  advance,  have,  as  their  line  of  supply  and  retreat,  the  road  U  \ 
Richmond. 

If,  in  conjunction  with  McDowell's  movement  against  Anderson,  you 
could  send  a  force  from  your  right  to  cut  off  the  enemy's  supplies  from 
Richmond,  preserve  the  railroad  bridge  across  the  two  fords  of  the  Pa- 
munkey,  and  intercept  the  enemy's  retreat,  you  will  prevent  the  army 
now  opposed  to  you  from  receiving  an  accession  of  numbers  of  nearly 
fifteen  thousand  men ;  and  if  you  succeed  in  saving  the  bridges,  you  will 
secure  a  line  of  railroad  for  supplies  in  addition  to  the  one  you  now  have. 
Can  you  not  do  this  almost  as  well  as  not,  while  you  are  building  the 
Chickahominy  bridges  ?  McDowell  and  Shields  both  say  they  can,  and 
positively  will  move  Monday  morning.  I  wish  you  to  move  cautiously 
and  safely. 

You  will  have  command  of  McDowell,  after  he  joins  you,  precisely  as 
you  indicated  in  your  long  dispatch  to  us  of  the  21st. 

A.  Lincoln,  President. 

Major-General  G.  B.  MoOlellan. 

General  Banks,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  been  sent  by 
General  McClellan,  on  the  1st  of  April,  to  guard  the  ap- 
proaches to  Washington  by  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah, 
which  were  even  then  menaced  by  Jackson  with  a  con  , 
siderable  rebel  force.  A  conviction  of  the  entire  insn  ffi  I 
ciency  of  the  forces  left  for  the  protection  of  the  Capital' 
had  led  to  the  retention  of  McDowell,  from  whose  com- 
mand, however,  upon  General  McClellan' s  urgent  and 
impatient  applications,  General  Franklin's  division  had 
been  detached.  On  the  23d,  as  stated  in  the  above  letter 
*rom  the  President,  there  were  indications  of  a  purpose 
on  Jackson's  part  to  move  in  force  against  Banks ;  and 
this  purpose  was  so  clearly  developed,  and  his  situation 
became  so  critical,  that  the  President  was  compelled  to 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  281 

re-enforce  him,  a  movement  which  he  announced  in  the 
following  dispatch  to  General  McCleilan  :— - 

May  24, 1862.— (From  "Washington,  4  p.  m.) 

In  consequence  of  General  Banks's  critical  position,  I  have  been  com 
filled  to  suspend  General  McDowell's  movements  to  join  you.     Th% 
enemy  are  making  a  desperate  push  upon  Harper's  Ferry,  and  we  are 
trying  to  throw  General  Fremont's  force,  and  part  of  General  McDowell's, 
in  their  rear.  A.  Lincoln,  President. 

Major-General  G.  B.  MoOlkllan. 

Unable,  apparently,  or  unwilling  to  concede  any  tmng 
whatever  to  emergencies  existing  elsewhere,  General 
McCleilan  remonstrated  against  the  diversion  of  McDow- 
ell, in  reply  to  which  he  received,  on  the  26th,  the 
following  more  full  explanation  from  the  President : — 

"Washington,  May  25,  1S62. 
Your  dispatch  received.  General  Banks  was  at  Strasburg  with  about 
six  thousand  men,  Shields  having  been  taken  from  him  to  swell  a  col- 
umn for  McDowell  to  aid  you  at  Richmond,  and  the  rest  of  his  force 
scattered  at  various  places.  On  the  23d,  a  rebel  force,  of  seven  thousand 
to  ten  thousand,  fell  upon  one  regiment  and  two  companies  guarding 
the  bridge  at  Port  Royal,  destroying  it  entirely:  croused  the  Shenandoah, 
and  on  the  24th,  yesterday,  pushed  on  to  get  north  of  Banks  on  the  road 
to  Winchester.  General  Banks  ran  a  rjv.ce  with  them,  beating  them  into 
Winchester  yesterday  evening.  This  morning  a  battle  ensued  between 
the  two  forces,  in  which  General  Banks  was  beaten  back  into  full  retreat 
towards  Martinsburg,  and  probacy  is  broken  up  into  a  total  rout.  Geary, 
on  the  Manassas  Gap  Railroad,  just  now  reports  that  Jackson  is  now 
near  Front  Royal  with  ten  thousand  troops,  following  up  and  supporting, 
as  1  i\  lerstand,  the  force  now  pursuing  Banks.  Also,  that  another  force 
at  ten  thousand  is  near  Orleans,  following  on  in  the  same  direction. 
Stripped  bare,  as  we  are  here,  I  will  do  all  we  can  to  prevent  them  cross- 
ing the  Potomac  at  Harper's  Ferry  or  above.  McDowell  has  about 
twenty  thousand  of  his  forces  moving  back  to  the  vicinity  of  Port  Royal, 
and  Fremont,  who  was  at  Franklin,  is  moving  to  Harrisonburg — both  these 
movements  intended  to  get  in  the  enemy's  rear. 

One  more  of  McDowell's  brigades  is  ordered  through  here  to  Harper's 
Ferry ;  the  rest  of  his  forces  remain  for  the  present  at  Fredericksburg. 
We  are  sending  such  regiments  and  dribs  from  here  and  Baltimore  as  we 
can  spare  to  Harper's  Ferry,  supplying  their  places  in  some  sort,  calling 
in  militia  from  the  adjacent  States.  We  also  have  eighteen  cannon  on 
the  road  to  Harper's  Ferry,  of  which  arm  there  is  not  a  single  one  at 
that  point.     This  is  now  our  situation. 


282  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

Tf  McDowell's  force  was  now  beyond  onr  reach,  we  should  b*  entirety 
helpless.  Apprehensions  of  something  like  this,  and  no  unwillingness  to 
sustain  yon,  has  always  been  my  reason  for  withholding  McDowell'i 
forces  from  you. 

Please  understand  this,  and  do  the  best  you  can  with  the  forces  yon 
b,';ve.  A.  Lincoln,  President. 

Miyor-General  MoOlkllan. 

Jackson  continued  his  triumphant  march  through  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  and  for  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  noth- 
ing could  prevent  his  crossing  the  Potomac,  and  making 
his  appearance  in  rear  of  Washington.  The  President 
promptly  announced  this  state  of  things  to  General  Mo 
Clellan  in  the  following  dispatch : — 

Washington,  May  25, 1862—2  p.  u. 

The  enemy  is  moving  north  in  sufficient  force  to  drive  General  Bank* 
tvfifore  him ;  precisely  in  what  force  we  cannot  tell.  He  is  also  threaten- 
ing Leesbnrg  and  Geary  on  the  Manassas  Gap  Railroad,  from  both  north 
and  south;  in  precisely  what  force  we  cannot  tell.  I  think  the  move- 
ment is  a  general  and  concerted  one.  Such  as  would  not  be  if  he  was 
acting  upon  the  purpose  of  a  very  desperate  defence  of  Richmond.  I 
tliiok  the  time  is  near  when  you  must  either  attack  Richmond  or  give 
up  the  job,  and  come  to  the  defence  of  Washington.  Let  me  hear  from 
vou  instantly.  A.  Lincoln. 

To  this  General  McClellan  replied  that,  independently 
of  the  President's  letter,  "the  time  was  very  near  when 
he  should  attack  Richmond."  He  knew  nothing  of 
Banks'  s  position  and  force,  hut  thought  Jackson' s  move 
ment  was  designed  to  prevent  re- enforcements  being  sen  I 
to  him. 

On  the  26th,  the  President  announced  to  General  Mc- 
Clellan the  safety  of  Banks  at  Williamsport,  and  then 
turned  his  attention,  with  renewed  anxiety,  to  the  move- 
ment against  Richmond,  urging  General  McClellan,  if 
possible,  to  cut  the  railroad  between  that  city  and  the 
Rappahannock,  over  which  the  enemy  obtained  their 
supplies.  The  General,  on  the  evening  of  the  26th,  in- 
formed him  that  he  was  "  quietly  closing  in  upon  the 
enemy  preparatory  to  the  last  struggle" — that  he  felt 
forced  to  take  every  possible  precaution  against  disaster, 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  283 

and  that  his  "  arrangements  for  the  morrow  were  very 
important,  and  if  successful  would  leave  him  free  to 
strike  on  the  return  of  the  force  attacked."  The  move- 
ment here  referred  to  was  one  against  a  portion  of  the 
rebel  forces  at  Hanover  Court-House,  which  threatened 
McDowell,  and  was  in  a  position  to  re-enforce  Jackson. 
The  expedition  was  under  command  of  General  Fitz-John 
Porter,  and  proved  a  success.  General  McClellan  on  the 
28th  announced  it  to  the  Government  as  a  "  complete 
rout"  of  the  rebels,  and  as  entitling  Porter  to  the  highest 
honors.  In  the  same  dispatch  he  said  he  would  do  his 
best  to  cut  off  Jackson  from  returning  to  Richmond,  but 
doubted  if  he  could.  The  great  battle  was  about  to  be 
fought  before  Richmond,  and  he  adds :  "It  is  the  policy 
And  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  send  me  by  water  all 
the  well-drilled  troops  available.  All  unavailable  troops 
should  be  collected  here."  Porter,  he  said,  had  cut 
all  the  railroads  but  the  one  from  Richmond  to  Fred- 
ericksburg, which  was  the  one  concerning  which  the 
President  had  evinced  the  most  anxiety.  Another 
expedition  was  sent  to  the  South  Anna  River  and 
Ashland,  which  destroyed  some  bridges  without  op- 
position. This  was  announced  to  the  Government  by 
General  McClellan  as  another  "complete  victory  "  achiev- 
ed by  the  heroism  of  Porter — accompanied  by  the  state- 
ment that  the  enemy  were  even  in  greater  force  than 
he  had  supposed.  "I  will  do,"  said  the  dispatch,  "ail 
thai  quick  movements  can  accomplish,  and  you  must 
send  me  all  the  troops  you  can,  and  leave  to  me  full 
latitude  as  to  choice  of  commanders."  In  reply,  the 
President  sent  him  the  following  : — 

Washington,  May  28, 186J. 
I  am  very  glad  of  General  F.  J.  Porter's  victory ;  still,  if  it  was  a  total 
rout  of  the  enemy,  I  am  puzzled  to  know  why  the  Richmond  and  Fred- 
ericksburg Railroad  was  not  seized  again,  as  you  say  you  have  all  the 
railroads  but  the  Richmond  and  Fredericksburg.  I  am  puzzled  to  see 
how,  lacking  that,  you  can  have  any,  except  the  scrap  from  Richmond  to 
West  Point.  The  scrap  of  the  Virginia  Central,  from  Richmond  to  Han- 
over Junction,  without  more,  is  simply  nothing.  That  the  whole  of  thf 
«n©iny  is  concentrating  on  Richmond.  I  think,  cannot  be  o>"**tnly  know* 


284  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

to  you  or  me.  Saxton,  at  Harper's  Ferry,  informs  us  that  large  forces* 
■apposed  to  be  Jackson's  and  Ewell's,  forced  Ms  advance  from  Charles- 
iown  to-day.  General  King  telegraphs  us  from  Fredericksburg  that  con- 
trabands give  certain  information  that  fifteen  thousand  left  Hanovet 
J~  notion  Monday  morning  to  re-enforce  Jackson.  I  am  painfully  im- 
pressed with  the  importance  of  the  struggle  before  you,  and  shall  aid  yoa 
all  I  can  consistently  with  my  view  of  the  due  regard  to  all  points. 

A.  Lincoln. 
Major-Genera)  JIcClellan. 

To  a  dispatch  reporting  the  destruction  of  the  South 
Anna  Railroad  bridge,  the  President  replied  thus : — 

Washington,  Aay  29, 1868. 

Your  dispatch  as  to  the  South  Anna  and  Ashland  being  seized  by 
our  forces  this  morning  is  received.  Understanding  these  points  to  be 
on  the  Richmond  and  Fredericksburg  Railroad,  I  heartily  congratulate 
the  country,  and  thank  General  McOlellan  and  his  army  for  their  seizure. 

A.  Lincoln. 

On  the  30th,  General  McClellan  telegraphed  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  War,  complaining  that  the  Government  did  not 
seem  to  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  Porter's  victory,  and 
saying  that  his  army  was  now  well  in  hand,  and  that 
"  another  day  will  make  the  probable  field  of  battle  pass 
able  for  artillery." 

On  the  25th  of  May,  General  Keyes  with  the  Fourth 
Corps  had  been  ordered  across  the  Chickahominy,  and  was 
followed  by  the  Third,  under  General  Heintzelman — cue 
division  of  the  Fourth,  under  General  Casey,  being  pushed 
forward  within  seven  miles  of  Richmond,  to  Seven  Pines, 
which  he  was  ordered  to  hold  at  all  hazards.  On  the  28th, 
General  Keyes  was  ordered  to  advance  Casey's  Division 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  Fair  Oaks.  General  Keyes 
obeyed  the  order,  but  made  strong  representations  to  head- 
quarters of  the  extreme  danger  of  pushing  these  troops  so 
far  in  advance  without  adequate  support,  and  requested 
that  General  Heintzelman  might  be  brought  within  sup- 
porting distance,  and  that  a  stronger  force  might  be  crossed 
over  the  Chickahominy  to  be  in  readiness  for  the  general 
engagement  which  these  advances  would  be  very  likely 
to  bring  on.     These  requests  were  neglected,  and  Genera] 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  285 

Keyes  was  regarded  and  treated  as  an  alarmist.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  30th  he  made  a  personal  examination  ot 
liis  front,  and  reported  that  he  was  menaced  by  an  over- 
whelming force  of  the  enemy  in  front  and  on  both  Hanks, 
and  he  again  urged  the  necessity  for  support,  to  which  he 
received  a  very  abrupt  reply  that  no  moTe  troops  would 
be  crossed  over,  and  that  the  Third  Corps  would  not  be  ad- 
vanced unless  he  was  attacked.  At  about  noon  the  next 
day  he  was  attacked  on  both  flanks  and  in  front,  General 
Casey's  Division  driven  back  with  heavy  loss,  and  in  spite 
of  a  stubborn  and  gallant  resistance  on  the  part  of  his 
corps,  General  Keyes  was  compelled  to  fall  back  with 
severe  losses,  some  two  miles,  when  the  enemy  was  check- 
ed, and  night  put  an  end  to  the  engagement.  On  hearing 
the  firing  at  head-quarters,  some  four  miles  distant,  Gen- 
eral McClellan  ordered  General  Sumner  to  hold  his  com- 
mand in  readiness  to  move.  General  Sumner  not  only  did 
so,  but  moved  them  at  once  to  the  bridge,  and  on  receiv- 
ing authority  crossed  over,  and,  by  the  greatest  exertions 
over  muddy  roads,  reached  the  field  of  battle  in  time  to 
aid  in  checking  the  rebel  advance  for  the  night.  Early 
the  next  morning  the  enemy  renewed  the  attack  with  great 
vigor,  but  the  arrival  of  General  Sumner,  and  the  advance 
of  General  Heintzelman' s  Corps,  enabled  our  forces,  though 
still  greatly  inferior,  not  only  to  repel  the  assault,  but  to 
inflict  upon  the  enemy  a  signal  defeat.  They  were  driven 
back  in  the  utmost  confusion  and  with  terrible  losses  upon 
Richmond,  where  their  arrival  created  the  utmost  con- 
sternation, as  it  was  taken  for  granted  they  would  be 
immediately  followed  by  our  whole  army. 

General  McClellan,  who  had  remained  with  the  main 
body  of  the  army  on  the  other  side  of  the  Chickahominy 
during  the  whole  of  the  engagements  of  both  days,  crossed 
the  river  after  the  battle  was  over,  and  visited  the  field. 
"The  state  of  the  roads,"  he  says,  "and  the  impossibil- 
ity of  manoeuvring  artillery,  prevented  pursuit.' '  He  re- 
turned to  head-quarters  in  the  afternoon.  On  the  next 
day,  June  2d,  General  Heintzelman  sent  forward  a  strong 
reconnoitring  party  under  General  Hooker,  wliich  went 


286  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

within  four  miles  of  Richmond  without  finding  any  en 
em 7.  Upon  being  informed  of  this  fact,  General  McCle]  • 
Ian  ordered  the  force  to  fall  back  to  its  old  position, 
assigning  the  bad  state  of  the  roads  as  the  reason  for  not, 
attempting  either  to  march  upon  Richmond,  or  even  to 
hold  the  ground  already  gained.  In  a  dispatch  to  Wash  • 
ingt-on  on  the  2d,  he  states  that  he  "  only  waits  for  th«3 
river  to  fall  to  cross  with  the  rest  of  the  army  and  make 
a  general  attack.     The  morale  of  my  troops,"  he  adds, 

is  now  such  that  I  can  venture  much.  I  do  not  fear  for 
odds  against  me."  It  seems  to  have  been  his  intention 
then,  to  concentrate  his  forces  for  an  immediate  advance 
upon  the  rebel  capital,  though  in  his  report,  written  mora 
than  a  year  afterwards,  he  says  the  idea  of  uniting  the 
two  wings  of  the  army  at  that  time  for  a  vigorous  mov* 
upon  Richmond  was  "  simply  absurd,  and  was  probably 
never  seriously  entertained  by  any  one  connected  with  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac."* 

The  Government  at  once  took  measures  to  strengthen 
the  army  by  all  the  means  available.  An  order  was  issued, 
placing  at  his  command  all  the  disposable  forces  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  and  another  ordering  McDowell  to  send  McCalP  s 
division  to  him  by  water  from  Fredericksburg.  McDowell 
or  Fremont  was  expected  to  fight  Jackson  at  Front  Royal, 
after  which,  part  of  their  troops  would  become  available 
for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  On  the  4th,  General 
McClellan  telegraphed  that  it  was  raining,  that  the  river 
was  still  high,  that  he  had  "to  be  very  cautious,"  that 
.he  expected  another  severe  battle,  and  hoped,  after  our 
I  icavy  losses,  he  "  should  no  longer  be  regarded  as  an 
'alarmist."  On  the  5th,  the  Secretary  of  War  sent  him 
word  that  troops  had  been  embarked  for  him  at  Baltimore, 
to  which  he  replied  on  the  7th,  "  /  shall  be  in  perfect 
?  eadiness  to  moveforward  and  lake  Richmond  the  moment 
McCall  reaches  here,  and  the  ground  will  admit  the  pas- 
sage of  artillery"  .On  the  10th,  General  McCaH's  forces 
began  to  arrive  at  White  House,  and  on  the  same  day 

*  See  General  MeClelian'g  Report.  August  4,  1861. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  287 

General  McClellan  telegraphed  to  the  department  that  a 
rumor  had  reached  him  that  the  rebels  had  been  re-enforced 
by  Beauregard — that  he  thought  a  portion  of  Hal  leek' n 
army  from  Tennessee  should  be  sent  to  strengthen  him 
but  that  he  should  "  attack  with  what  force  he  had,  aa 
soon  as  the  weather  and  ground  will  permit — but  ther<> 
will  be  a  delay,"  he  added,  "the  extent  of  which  no  on  ■ 
can  foresee,  for  the  season  is  altogether  abnormal."  The 
Secretary  of  War  replied  that  Halleck  would  be  urged 
to  comply  with  his  request  if  lie  could  safely  do  so — that 
neither  Beauregard  nor  his  army  was  in  Richmond,  that 
McDowell's  force  would  join  him  as  soon  as  possible,  that 
Fremont  had  had  an  engagement,  not  wholly  successful, 
with  Jackson,  and  closing  with  this  strong  and  cordial 
assurance  of  confidence  and  support : — 

Be  assured,  General,  that  there  never  has  been  a  moment  when  my  df 
■ire  has  been  otherwise  than  to  aid  you  with  my  whole  heart,  mind,  ai  d 
strength,  since  the  hour  we  first  met ;  and  whatever  others  may  say  tor 
their  own  purposes,  you  have  never  had,  and  never  can  have,  any  ou« 
more  truly  your  friend,  or  more  anxious  to  support  you,  or  more  joyful 
than  I  shall  be  at  the  success  which,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  soon  be  achieved 
by  your  arms. 

On  the  14th,  General  McClellan  wrote  to  the  War 
Department  that  the  weather  was  favorable,  and  thai 
two  days  more  would  make  the  ground  practicable.  H 
still  urges  the  propriety  of  sending  him  more  troops,  bu 
finds  a  new  subject  of  complaint  in  a  telegram  he  had 
received  from  McDowell.  The  latter,  on  the  8th,  had 
received  the  following  orders : — 

The  Secretary  of  War  directs  that,  having  first  provided  adequately  for 
the  defence  of  the  City  of  Washington  and  for  holding  the  position  at 
Fredericksburg,  you  operate  with  the  residue  of  your  force  as  speedily  a? 
possible  in  the  direction  of  Richmond  to  co-operate  with  Major-Genera? 
McClellan,  in  accordance  with  the  instructions  heretofore  given  you.  Mt 
CalVs  Division,  which  has  been  by  previous  order  directed  towards  Rich 
mond  by  water,  will  still  form  a  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Rnpixihrnmoek, 
and  will  come  under  your  orders  when  you  are  in  a  position  to  rn-operatj 
with  General  McClellan. 


288  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

General  McDowell  had  telegraphed  McClellan  as  foi 
lows  on  the  10th  of  June  : — 

For  the  third  time  I  am  ordered  to  join  you,  and  hope  this  time  to  get 
through.  In  view  of  the  remarks  made  with  reference  to  my  leaving 
you,  and  not  joining  you  hefore,  by  your  friends,  and  of  something  I 
have  heard  as  coming  from  you  on  that  subject,  I  wish  to  say,  I  go  with 
the  greatest  satisfaction,  and  hope  to  arrive  with  my  main  body  in  tim 
to  be  of  service.  McCall  goes  in  advance  by  water.  I  will  be  with  yo 
in  ten  days  with  the  remainder  by  Fredericksburg. 

And  again,  June  12th  :— 

The  delay  of  Major-General  Banks  to  relieve  the  division  of  my  com- 
mand in  the  valley  beyond  the  time  I  had  calculated  on,  will  prevent  my 
joining  you  with  the  remainder  of  the  troops  I  am  to  take  below  at  as 
early  a  day  as  I  named.  My  Third  Division  (McCall's)  is  now  on  the  way. 
Please  do  me  the  favor  to  so  place  it  that  it  may  be  in  a  2)osition  to  join 
the  others  as  they  come  flown  from  Fredericksburg. 

These  telegrams,  it  will  be  seen,  are  in  accordance  with 
the  orders  to  McDowell  of  the  8th,  which  directed  that 
McCall's  Division  should  continue  to  form  part  of  the 
Army  of  the  Rappahannock,  and  required  that  McDowell 
should  operate  in  the  direction  of  Richmond,  to  co-oper- 
ate with  McClellan  in  accordance  with  instructions  here- 
tofore given  him. 

These  instructions  are  those  of  the  17th  and  18th  of 
May,  concerning  which  McClellan  sent  to  the  President 
*his  long  telegram  of  the  21st,  in  which  he  says : — 

This  fact  (McDowell's  forces  coming  within  his  department),  my  supe- 
rior rank,  and  the  express  language  of  the  sixty-second  article  of  war, 
will  place  his  command  under  my  orders,  unless  it  is  otherwise  specially 
directed  by  your  Excellency,  and  I  consider  that  he  will  be  under  my 
command,  except  that  I  am  not  to  detach  any  portion  of  his  forces,  or 
give  any  orders  which  can  put  him  out  of  position  to  cover  Washington 

To  this  the  President  answered : — 

Yon  will  have  command  of  McDowell  after  he  joins  you,  precisely  ai 
jrou  indicated  in  your  long  dispatch  to  us  of  the  21st. 

In  regard  to  this,  McClellan,  in  his  report  (August  4tb, 
1863),  aajs;- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  289 

This  information,  that  McDowell's  Corps  would  march  from  Fiodericks- 
burg  on  the  following  Monday — the  28th — and  that  he  would  be  under 
my  command  as  indicated  in  my  telegram  of  the  21st,  was  cheering  news, 
and  I  now  felt  confident  that  we  would,  on  his  arrival,  be  sufficiently 
strong  to  overpower  the  large  army  confronting  us. 

Yet  in  the  simple  request  of  McDowell,  as  to  the 
posting  of  his  Third  (McCall's)  Division — made  to  carry 
out  the  plan — the  news  of  which,  McClellan  says,  was  so 
cheering,  and  inspired  him  with  such  confidence,  Mc- 
Clellan sees  nothing  but  personal  ambition  on  McDowell's 
part,  and  protests  against  that  "  spirit "  in  the  following 
terms: — 

That  request  does  not  breathe  the  proper  spirit.  Whatever  troops 
come  to  me  must  be  disposed  of  so  as  to  do  the  most  good.  I  do  not  feel 
that,  in  such  circumstances  as  those  in  which  I  am  now  placed,  General 
McDowell  should  wish  the  general  interests  to  be  sacrificed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  increasing  his  command. 

If  I  cannot  fully  control  all  his  troops,  I  want  none  of  them,  hut  icould 
prefer  to  fight  the  battle  with  what  I  have,  and  let  others  be  responsible  fot 
the  results. 

The  department  lines  should  not  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  me ;  bnl 
General  McD.,  and  all  other  troops  sent  to  me,  should  be  placed  complete- 
ly at  my  disposal,  to  do  with  them  as  I  think  best.  In  no  other  way  cai 
*hey  be  of  assistance  to  me.  I  therefore  request  that  I  may  have  entire 
and  full  control.  The  stake  at  issue  is  too  great  to  allow  personal  con- 
siderations to  be  entertained :  you  know  that  I  have  none. 

It  had  been  suggested,  in  some  of  the  journals  of  the 
day,  that  General  McDowell  might  possibly  advance 
upon  Richmond  from  the  north,  without  waiting  for 
McClellan :  it  is  scarcely  possible,  however,  that  any 
suspicion  of  such  a  purpose  could  have  had  any  thing  tt 
do  with  General  McClellan' s  reiterated  and  emphatic 
desire  that  McDowell  should  join  him  by  water,  so  as  to 
be  in  his  rear,  and  not  by  land,  which  would  bring  him 
on  his  front — with  his  peremptory  demand  that  all  Mc- 
Dowell's troops  should  be  "  completely  at  his  disposal," 
with  his  indignant  protest  against  McDowell's  personal 
ambition,  or  with  his  conviction  of  the  propriety  and 
necessity  of  disavowing  all  personal  considerations  for 
himself.     But  it  is  certainly  a  little  singular  that  a  com- 

19 


200  The  Life,  Public  Services,  anu 

rnander,  intrusted  with  an  enterprise  of  such  transcendent 
importance  to  Ids  army  and  country,  who  had  been  so 
urgently  calling  for  re-enforcements  as  absolutely  indis- 
pensable to  success,  should  have  preferred  not  to  receive 
them,  but  to  fight  the  battle  with  what  he  had,  rather 
than  have  the  co-operation  of  McDowell  under  the  two 
conditions  fixed  by  the  President,  (1)  that  he  should  not 
deprive  him  of  his  troops,  or,  (2)  post  them  so  as  to 
prevent  their  being  kept  interposed  between  the  enemy 
and  Washington.  Even  if  he  could  leave  "  others  to  be 
responsible  for  the  results,"  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  he 
could  reconcile  the  possibility  of  adverse  results  with  his 
professedly  paramount  concern  for  the  welfare  of  hia 
country. 

On  the  20th  of  June,  he  telegraphed  the  President  that 
troops  to  the  number  of  probably  ten  thousand  had  left 
Richmond  to  re-enforce  Jackson ;  that  his  defensive 
works  on  the  Chickahominy,  made  necessary  by  his 
"inferiority  of  numbers,"  would  be  completed  the  next 
day  ;  and  that  he  would  be  glad  to  learn  the  "  disposi- 
tion, as  to  numbers  and  position,  of  the  troops  not  under 
his  command,  in  Virginia  and  elsewhere,"  as  also  to  lay 
before  his  Excellency,  "by  letter  or  telegraph,  his  views 
as  to  the  present  state  of  military  affairs  throughout  the 
whole  country"  To  this  he  received  the  following 
reply  :— 

Washington,  June  21, 1S62— 6  p.  u. 

Yi'ir  dispatch  of  yesterday,  two  p.  m.,  was  received  this  morning.  It 
it  would  not  divert  too  much  of  your  time  and  attention  from  the  arm) 
ander  your  immediate  command,  I  would  be  glad  to  have  your  views  a* 
io  the  present  state  of  military  affairs  throughout  the  whole  country,  aa 
vou  say  you  would  be  glad  to  give  them.  I  would  rather  it  should  be  by 
setter  than  by  telegraph,  because  of  the  better  chance  of  secrecy.  As  to  the 
numbers  and  positions  of  the  troops  not  under  your  command  in  Virginia 
and  elsewhere,  even  if  I  could  do  it  with  accuracy,  which  I  cannot,  I 
would  rather  not  transmit,  either  by  telegraph  or  letter,  because  of  the 
ehances  of  its  reaching  the  enemy.  I  would  be  very  glad  to  talk  nith 
you,  bat  you  cannot  leave  your  camp,  and  I  cannot  well  leave  here. 

A.  Linocln,  President. 
Major-General  Gkokge  B.  MoClbxlas. 

»  1  !  I   ' 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  291 

The  President  also  stated  that  the  news  of  Jackson's 
having  been  re-enforced  from  Richmond  was  confirmed 
by  General  King  at  Fredericksburg,  and  added,  "If  this 
is  true,  it  is  as  good  as  a  re- enforcement  to  yon  of  an 
equal  force."  In  acknowledging  the  first  dispatch,  Gen- 
eral McClellan  said,  he  "  perceived  that  it  would  be 
better  to  defer  the  communication  he  desired  to  make" 
on  the  condition  of  the  country  at  large  ;  he  soon,  indeed, 
had  occasion  to  give  all  his  attention  to  the  army  under 
nis  command. 

General  McClellan  had  been,  for  nearly  a  month,  de- 
claring his  intention  to  advance  upon  Richmond  imme- 
diately. At  times,  as  has  been  seen  from  his  dispatches, 
the  movement  was  fixed  for  specific  days,  though  in 
every  instance  something  occurred,  when  the  decisive 
moment  arrived,  to  cause  a  further  postponement.  Gn 
the  18th,  again  announcing  his  intention  to  advance,  he 
said  that  a  "general  engagement  might  take  place  at  any 
hour,  as  an  advance  by  us  involves  a  battle  more  or  less 
decisive."  But  in  the  same  dispatch  he  said,  "After  to- 
morrow we  shall  fight  the  rebel  army  as  soon  as  Provi- 
dence will  permit."  But  in  this  case,  as  in  every  other, 
in  spite  of  his  good  intentions,  and  the  apparent  permis- 
sion of  Providence,  General  McClellan  made  no  move- 
ment in  advance,  but  waited  until  he  was  attacked.  He 
had  placed  his  army  astride  the  Chickahominy — the  left 
wing  being  much  the  strongest  and  most  compact,  the 
right  being  comparatively  weak  and  very  extended.  He 
.had  expended,  however,  a  great  deal  of  labor  in  bridging 
the  stream,  so  that  either  wing  could  have  been  thrown 
across  with  great  ease  and  celerity.  Up  to  the  24th  of 
June,  General  McClellan  believed  Jackson  to  be  in  strong 
force  at  Gordonsvilie,  where  he  was  receiving  re-enforce- 
ments from  Richmond  with  a  view  to  operations  in  that 
quarter.  But  on  that  day  he  was  told  by  a  deserter  that 
Jackson  was  planning  a  movement  to  attack  his  right  and 
rear  on  the  28th,  and  this  information  was  confirmed  by 
advices  from  the  War  Department  on  the  25th.  On  that 
day,  being  convinced  that  he  is  to  be  attacked,  and  will 

hi      J 


292  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

therefore  be  compelled  to  fight,  he  writes  to  the  Depart- 
ment to  throw  upon  others  the  responsibility  of  an  antici 
pated  defeat.  He  declares  the  rebel  force  to  be  some  two 
hundred  thousand,  regrets  his  "  great  inferiority  of  num- 
bers," but  protests  that  he  is  not  responsible  for  it,  as  he 
has  repeatedly  and  constantly  called  for  re  enforcements, 
&nd  declares  that  if  the  result  of  the  action  is  a  disaster, 
the  "  responsibility  cannot  be  thrown  on  his  shoulders, 
but  must  rest  where  it  belongs."  He  closes  by  announ- 
cing that  a  reconnaissance  which  he  had  ordered  had 
proved  successful,  that  he  should  probably  be  attacked 
the  next  day,  and  that  he  felt  "that  there  was  no  use  in 
Again  asking  for  re-enforcements."  To  tliis  the  President 
replied  as  follows : — 

Washington,  June  2C,  1862. 

Your  three  dispatches  of  yesterday  in  relation,  ending  with  the  state 
ment  that  you  completely  succeeded  in  making  your  point,  are  very  grati 
tying.  The  later  one,  suggesting  the  probability  of  your  being  over 
whelmed  by  two  hundred  thousand  men,  and  talking  of  to  whom  the  re 
gponsibility  will  belong,  pains  me  very  much.  I  give  you  all  I  can,  and 
act  on  the  presumption  that  you  will  do  the  best  you  can  with  what  you 
have ;  while  you  continue,  ungenerously,  I  think,  to  assume  that  I  could 
give  you  more  if  I  would.  I  have  omitted — I  shall  omit — no  opportunity 
to  send  you  re-enforcements  whenever  I  can.  A.  Lincoln. 

General  McClellan  had  foreseen  the  probability  of  be- 
ing attacked,  and  had  made  arrangements  for  a  defeat. 
"More  than  a  week  previous,"  he  says  in  his  report, 
"that  is,  on  the  18th,"  he  had  prepared  for  a  retreat  to 
the  James  River,  and  had  ordered  supplies  to  that  point. 
His  extreme  right  was  attacked  at  Mechanicsville  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  26th,  but  the  enemy  were  repulsed.  The 
movement,  however,  disclosed  the  purpose  of  the  rebel 
army  to  crush  his  light  wing  and  cut  off  his  communica- 
tions, if  possible  Two  plans  were  open  to  his  adoption  : 
he  might  have  brought  over  his  left  wing,  and  so  strength- 
ened his  right  as  to  give  it  a  victory,  or  he  might  have 
withdrawn  his  right  across  the  Chickahominy — in  itself  a 
strong  defensive  line — and  have  pushed  his  whole  force  into 
ilk  hmond,  and  upon  the  rear  of  the  attacking  force.    Con- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  293 

(Yiitmtion  seemed  to  be  absolutely  essential  to  success  in 
any  event.  But  he  did  not  attempt  it.  He  left  the  right 
wing  to  contend  next  day  with  thirty  thousand  men, 
without  support,  against  the  main  body  of  the  rebel 
army,  and  only  withdrew  it  acioss  the  Chickahominy 
after  it  had  been  beaten  with  terrific  slaughter  on  the 
27th,  in  the  battle  of  Gaines's  Mill.  On  the  evening 
of  that  day  he  informed  his  corps  commanders  of  his 
purpose  to  fall  back  to  the  James  River,  and  withdrew 
the  remainder  of  his  right  wing  across  the  Chicka- 
hominy. On  the  next  day  the  whole  army  was  put  in 
motion  on  the  retreat,  and  General  McClellan  found  time 
again  to  reproach  the  Government  with  neglect  of  his 
army.  If  he  had  ten  thousand  fresh  men  to  use  at  once, 
he  said,  he  could  take  Richmond ;  but,  as  it  was,  all  he 
could  do  would  be  to  cover  his  retreat.  He  repeated  that 
he  "  was  not  responsible  "  for  the  result,  and  that  he  must 
have  instantly  very  large  re-enforcements  ;  and  closed  by 
saying  to  the  Secretary  of  War — what  we  do  not  believe 
any  subordinate  was  ever  before  permitted  to  say  to  his 
superior  officer  without  instant  dismissal — "  If  I  save  this 
army  now,  I  tell  you  plainly  that  I  owe  no  thanks  to  you 
or  to  any  persons  in  Washington :  you  have  done  your 
best  to  sacrifice  this  army" 
To  this  dispatch  the  President  replied  as  follows : — 

Washington,  June  96,  1802. 

Save  your  army  at  all  events.  Will  send  re-enforcements  as  fast  as  we 
can.  Of  course  they  cannot  reach  you  to-day,  to-morrow,  or  next  day. 
I  have  not  said  you  were  ungenerous  for  saying  you  needed  re-enforce- 
ments; I  thought  you  were  ungenerous  in  assuming  that  I  did  not  send 
them  as  fast  as  I  could.  I  feel  any  misfortune  to  you  and  your  army  quite 
as  keenly  as  you  feel  it  yourself.  If  you  have  had  a  drawn  battle  or  a 
repulse,  it  is  the  price  we  pay  for  the  enemy  not  being  in  Washington. 
We  protected  Washington,  and  the  enemy  concentrated  on  you.  Had  we 
stripped  Washington,  he  would  have  been  upon  us  before  the  troops  sent 
could  have  got  to  you.  Less  than  a  week  ago  you  notified  us  that  re- 
enforcements  were  leaving  Richmond  to  come  in  front  of  us.  It  is  the 
nature  of  the  case,  and  neither  you  nor  the  Government  is  to  blame. 

A.  Lincoln. 

Under  general  orders  from  General  McClellan,  he  and 


294  The  Life,  Public  Skuvioes,  and 

his  staff  proceeding  in  advance,  and  leaving  word  wliere 
the  corps  commanders  were  to  make  successive  stands  to 
resist  pursuit,  but  taking  no  part  personally  in  any  one 
of  the  succeeding  engagements,  the  army  continued  its 
march  towards  James  River.  They  first  resisted  and  re- 
pulsed the  pursuing  rebels  on  the  29th  at  Savage  Station, 
in  a  bloody  battle,  fought  under  General  Sumner,  and  od 
the  30th  had  another  severe  engagement  at  Glendale 
On  the  1st  of  July,  our  troops,  strongly  posted  at  Mai 
vera  Hill,  were  again  attacked  by  the  rebels,  whom  th<y 
repulsed  and  routed  with  terrible  slaughter  ;  and  orde  rs 
were  at  once  issued  for  the  further  retreat  of  the  army  to 
Harrison's  Landing,  which  General  McClellan  had  per- 
sonally examined  and  selected  on  the  day  before.  Even 
before  the  battle  of  Malvern  Hill,  he  had  telegraphed  to 
Washington  for  "fresh  troops, "  saying  he  should  fall 
back  to  the  river  if  possible ;  to  which  dispatch  he 
received  the  following  reply : — 

Washington,  July  1, 1862—8.30  p.  m. 

It  is  impossible  to  re-enforce  you  for  your  present  emergency.  If  we 
had  a  million  of  men  we  could  not  get  tliein  to  you  in  time.  We  have 
not  the  men  to  send.  If  you  are  not  strong  enough  to  face  the  enemy, 
you  must  find  a  place  of  security,  and  wait,  rest,  and  repair.  Maintain 
your  ground  if  you  can,  but  save  the  array  at  all  events,  even  if  you  fall 
back  to  Fort  Monroe.  We  still  have  strength  enough  in  the  country,  and 
will  bring  it  out. 

A.  Lincoln. 

Major-General  G.  B.  McClellan. 

On  the  next  day,  in  reply  to  a  request  from  General 
McClellan  for  fifty  thousand  more  troops,  the  President 
thus  addressed  him : — 

Washington,  July  2, 1852. 

Your  dispatch  of  yesterday  induces  me  to  hope  that  your  army  is  hav- 
ing some  rest.  In  this  hope,  allow  me  to  reason  with  you  for  a  moment. 
When  you  ask  for  fifty  thousand  men  to  be  promptly  sent  you,  you  surely 
labor  under  some  gross  mistake  of  fact.  Recently  you  sent  papers  show 
ing  your  disposal  of  forces  made  last  spring  for  the  defence  of  Washington 
and  advising  a  return  to  that  plan.  I  find  it  included  in  and  about  Wash- 
ington seventy-five  thousand  men.  Now,  please  be  assured  that  I  have 
uat  men  enough  to  fill  that  very  plan  by  fifteen  thousand.  All  of  General 
Frenionfs  in  the  Valley,  all  of  General  Banks's,  all  of  General  McDowell'? 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  295 

not  with  you,  and  all  in  Washington  taken  together,  do  not  exceed,  if  tlioy 

reach,  sixty  thousand.  With  General  Wool  and  General  Dix  added  to 
those  mentioned,  I  have  not,  outside  of  your  army,  seventy-five  thousand 
men  east  of  the  mountains.  Thus,  the  idea  of  sending  you  fifty  thousand, 
or  any  other  considerable  force  promptly,  is  simply  absurd.  If,  in  your 
frequent  mention  of  responsibility,  yon  have  the  impression  that  I  blame 
you  for  not  doing  more  than  you  can,  please  be  relieved  of  such  impres- 
sion. I  only  beg  that,  in  like  manner,  you  will  not  ask  impossibilities 
of  me.  If  you  think  you  are  not  strong  enough  to  take  Richmond  just 
now,  I  do  not  ask  you  to  try  just  now.  Save  the  army,  material,  and 
personnel,  and  I  will  strengthen  it  for  the  offensive  again  as  fast  as  I  can. 
The  Governors  of  eighteen  States  offer  me  a  new  levy  of  three  hundred 
thousand,  which  I  accept.  A.  Lincoln. 

On  the  next  day,  the  3d,  General  McClellan  again  wrote 
for  one  hundred  thousand  men — "more  rather  than  less," 
in  order  to  enable  him  to  "  accomplish  the  great  task  of 
captnring  Richmond,  and  putting  an  end  to  the  rebellion ;" 
and  at  the  same  time  he  sent  his  chief  of  staff,  General 
Marcy,  to  Washington,  in  order  to  secure  a  perfect  under- 
standing of  the  state  of  the  army.  The  General  said  he 
hoped  the  enemy  was  as  completely  worn  out  as  his  own 
army,  though  he  apprehended  a  new  attack,  from  which, 
however,  he  trusted  the  bad  condition  of  the  roads  might 
protect  him.  On  the  4th,  he  repeated  his  call  for  "heavy 
re-enforcements,"  but  said  he  held  a  very  strong  position, 
from  which,  with  the  aid  of  the  gunboats,  he  could  only 
be  driven  by  overwhelming  numbers.  On  the  same  day 
he  received  the  following  from  the  President : — 

Wak  Drpaetmsnt,  Washington  Citt,  D.  C,  July  4, 1S62 

I  understand  your  position  as  stated  in  your  letter,  and  by  General 
if arcy.  To  re-enforce  you  so  as  to  enable  you  to  resume  the  offensive 
within  a  month,  or  even  six  weeks,  is  impossible.  In  addition  to  that 
arrived  and  now  arriving  from  the  Potomac  (about  ten  thousand  men,  1 
suppose),  and  about  ten  thousand,  I  hope,  yon  will  have  from  Burnside 
very  soon,  and  about  five  thousand  from  Hunter  a  little  later,  I  do  not  sea 
how  I  can  send  you  another  man  within  a  month.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, the  defensive,  for  the  present,  must  he  your  only  care.  Save  the 
army,  first,  where  you  are,  if  you  can;  and  secondly,  by  removal,  if  yon  must. 
You,  on  the  ground,  must  be  the  judge  as  to  which  you  will  attempt, 
and  of  the  means  for  effecting  it,  I  but  give  it  as  my  opinion,  that  with 
the  aid  of  the  gunboats  and  the  re-enforcements  mentioned  above,  yoa 


296  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

can  hold  your  present  position  ,  provided,  and  so  long  as  you  can  keep 
the  James  River  open  below  you.  If  you  are  not  tolerably  confident  you 
can  keep  the  James  River  open,  you  had  better  remove  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. I  do  not  remember  that  you  have  expressed  any  apprehension  ai 
to  the  danger  of  having  your  communication  cut  on  the  ™ver  below  you, 
yet  I  do  not  suppose  it  can  have  escaped  your  attention. 

A.  Lincoln. 

P.  S. — If  at  any  time  you  feel  able  to  take  the  offensive,  you  are  no* 
restrained  from  doing  so.  A.  L. 

At  this  point,  on  the  7th  of  July,  General  McClellaii 
sent  the  President  a  letter  of  advice  on  the  general  con- 
duct of  his  Administration.  He  thought  the  time  had  come 
"when  the  Government  should  determine  upon  a  civil 
and  military  policy  covering  the  whole  ground  of  our 
national  trouble, "  and  he  proceeded  to  lay  down  the  basis 
of  such  a  policy  as  ought  to  be  adopted.  The  war  against 
the  rebellion,  he  said,  "  should  not  be  a  war  looking  to 
the  subjugation  of  the  people  of  any  State  in  any  event. 
-Neither  confiscation  of  property,  political  execution  of 
persons,  territorial  organization  of  States,  nor  forcible 
abolition  of  slavery,  should  be  contemplated  for  a  mo 
ment."     He  added  : — 

Military  power  should  not  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  relations  ol 
servitude,  either  by  supporting  or  impairing  the  authority  of  the  master, 
except  for  repressing  disorder,  as  in  other  cases.  Slaves,  contraband,  under 
the  act  of  Congress,  seeking  military  protection,  should  receive  it.  The 
right  of  the  Government  to  appropriate  permanently  to  its  own  service 
claims  to  slave  labor,  should  be  asserted,  and  the  right  of  the  owner  to 
©•urpensation  therefor  should  be  recognized.  This  principle  might  be 
extended,  upon  grounds  of  military  necessity  and  security,  to  all  the  slaves 
of  *  particular  State,  thus  working  manumission  in  such  State ;  and  in 
Missouri,  perhaps  in  Western  Virginia  also,  and  possibly  even  in  Maryland, 
the  expediency  of  such  a  measure  is  only  a  question  of  time.     *    *    * 

Unless  the  principles  governing  the  future  conduct  of  our  struggle  thai! 
be  made  known  and  approved,  the  effort  to  obtain  requisite  forces  will  be 
almost  hopeless.  A  declaration  of  radical  views,  especially  upon  slavery, 
will  rapidly  disintegrate  our  present  armies. 

He  closed  this  letter  by  saying  that  to  carry  out  these 
views  the  President  would  require  a  Commander-in-Chief 
who  possessed  his  confidence  and  could  execute  his  orders ; 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  297 

he  did  not  ask  that  place  for  himself,  but  would  serve  in 
any  position  that  might  be  assigned  him.     "  I  may  be,' 
he  adds,   "on  the  brink  of  eternity;  and  as  I  hope  for 
forgiveness  from  my  Maker,  I  have  written  this  letter  with 
sincerity  towards  you,  and  from  love  for  my  country. " 

The  President,  instead  of  entering  upon  a  discussion  as 
to  the  general  policy  of  his  Administration,  continued  to 
urge  the  General's  attention  to  the  state  of  his  own  army; 
and  in  order  to  inform  himself  more  accurately  as  to  its 
actual  condition  and  prospects,  visited  the  camp  on  the 
8th  of  July,  at  Harrison's  Landing.  The  actual  strength 
of  the  army  seems  to  have  been  at  that  time  a  matter  of 
considerable  difference  of  opinion ;  and  in  regard  to  it,  on 
returning  to  Washington,  the  President  thus  addressed 
the  General : — 

Ezjcovr.rj!  Mansion,  Washington,  July  18, 1869. 

My  Dear  Sib: — I  am  told  that  over  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
men  have  gone  with  your  army  on  the  Peninsula.  When  I  was  with  you 
the  other  day,  we  made  out  eighty-six  thousand  remaining,  leaving  seventy- 
three  thousand  five  hun jrod  to  be  accounted  for.  I  believe  three  thousand 
five  hundred  will  cover  all  the  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  in  all  your 
battles  and  skirmishes,  having  fifty  thousand  who  have  left  otherwise. 
Not  more  than  five  thousand  of  those  have  died,  leaving  forty-five  thou- 
sand or  jt*vr  army  still  alive,  and  net  with  it.  I  believe  half  or  two- 
thirds  of  th'nv  are  fit  for  duty  to-day.  Have  you  any  more  perfect 
knowledge  of  this  than  I  have  ?  If  I  am  right,  and  you  had  these  men 
with  you,  you  could  go  into  Richmond  in  the  next  three  days.  How  can 
uiey  be  got  to  you,  and  how  can  they  be  prevented  from  getting  away  in 
Mich  numbers  for  the  future  ?  A.  Lincoln. 

In  reply  to  this  letter,  the  General  disclosed  the  fact  that 
thirty-eight  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  of  his 
army  were  absent  by  authority — i.  e.,  on  furloughs  granted 
by  permission  of  the  Commanding  General.  The  actual 
number  of  troops  composing  his  army  on  the  20th  of  July. 
according  to  official  returns,  was  one  hundred  and  fifty 
eight  thousand  three  hundred  and  fourteen,  and  the  aggre- 
gate losses  in  the  retreat  to  the  James  Kiver  was  fifteen 
thousand  two  hundred  and  forty-nine. 

During  the  President's  visit  to  the  camp,  the  future 
movements  of  the  army  were  a  subject  of  anxious  delib- 


298  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

erotion.  It  was  understood  that  the  rebels  were  gather- 
ing large  forces  for  another  advance  upon  Washington, 
which  was  comparatively  unprotected — and  as  General 
McClellan  did  not  consider  himself  strong  enough  to  take 
the  offensive,  it  was  felt  to  be  absolutely  necessary  to  0OH- 
centrate  the  army,  either  on  the  Peninsula  or  in  fi  ont  of 
Washington,  for  the  protection  of  the  Capital.  The  former 
course,  after  the  experience  of  the  past  season,  wa3  felt 
to  be  exceedingly  hazardous,  and  the  corps  commanders 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  were  decidedly  in  favor  of 
the  latter.  General  McClellan  at  once  addressed  himself 
to  the  task  of  defeating  the  project.  On  the  11th,  he  tele 
graphed  to  the  President  that  "the  army  was  in  fine 
spirits,  and  that  he  hoped  he  would  soon  make  him  strong 
enough  to  try  again."  On  the  12th,  he  said  he  was  "more 
and  more  convinced  that  the  army  ought  not  to  be  with- 
drawn, but  promptly  re-enforced  and  thrown  again  upon 
Richmond."  He  "  dreaded  the  effects  of  any  retreat  on 
the  morale  of  his  men" — though  his  previous  experience 
should  have  obviated  any  such  apprehension  in  his  mind. 
"If  w^e  have  a  little  more  than  half  a  chance,"  he  said, 
"we  can  take  Richmond."  On  the  17th,  he  urged  that 
General  Burnside's  whole  command  in  North  Carolina 
should  be  ordered  to  join  him,  to  enable  him  to  "assume 
the  offensive  as  soon  as  possible."  On  the  18th,  he  re- 
peated this  request ;  and  on  the  28th,  again  urged  that  he 
should  be  "at  once  re- enforced  by  all  available  troops." 
On  the  25th,  General  Halleck  had  visited  the  camp,  and. 
after  a  careful  inspection  of  the  condition  of  the  army, 
called  an  informal  council  of  the  officers,  a  majority  of 
whom,  upon  learning  the  state  of  affairs,  recommended  its 
withdrawal  from  the  Peninsula.  On  the  30th,  he  issued 
an  order  to  General  McClellan  to  make  arrangements  at 
once  for  a  prompt  removal  of  all  the  sick  in  his  army,  in 
order  to  enable  him  to  move  "in  any  direction."  On  the 
2d  of  August,  not  having  received  any  repty,  General 
Halleck  renewed  his  order  to  "remove  them  as  rapidly 
as  possible;"  to  which,  on  the  3d,  General  McClellan 
replied  that  it  was  "impossible  to  decide  what  cases  to 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  2(J9 

Bend  off  unless  lie  knew  what  was  to  be  done  with  the 
army  "—and  that  if  he  was  to  be  "  kept  longer  in  igno- 
rance of  what  was  to  be  effected,  he  could  not  be  expected 
to  accomplish  the  object  in  view."  In  reply,  General 
Halleok  informed  him  that  his  army  was  to  be  "  with- 
drawn from  the  Peninsula  to  Aquia  Creels,"  but  that  the 
withdrawal  should  be  concealed  even  from  his  own  offi- 
cers. General  McClellan,  on  the  4th,  wrote  a  long  protest 
against  this  movement — saying  it  mattered  not  what  par- 
tial reverses  might  be  sustained  elsewhere — there  was  the 
"true  defence  of  Washington,"  and  he  asked  that  the 
order  might  be  rescinded.  To  this  letter,  after  again 
urging  General  McClellan  on  the  4th  to  hasten  the  removal 
of  the  sick,  which  he  was  "  expected  to  have  done  with- 
out waiting  to  know  what  were  or  would  be  the  intentions 
of  the  Government  respecting  future  movements,"  Gen- 
eral Halleck  on  the  6th  addressed  him  as  follows  : — 

HBAD-QcrARTFES  OB  THB   ArMT,  I 

Washington,  August  6,  1862.  \ 

General  : — Your  telegram  of  yesterday  was  received  this  morning,  and 
I  immediately  telegraphed  a  brief  reply,  promising  to  write  you  more 
fully  by  mail. 

You,  General,  certainly  could  not  have  been  more  pained  at  receiving 
my  order  than  I  was  at  the  necessity  of  issuing  it.  I  was  advised  by 
high  officers,  in  whose  judgment  I  had  great  confidence,  to  make  the 
order  immediately  on  my  arrival  here,  but  I  determined  not  to  do  so 
until  I  could  learn  your  wishes  from  a  personal  interview.  And  even 
after  that  interview  I  tried  every  means  in  my  power  to  avoid  withdraw- 
ing your  army,  and  delayed  my  decision  as  long  as  I  dared  to  delay  it. 

I  assure  you,  General,  it  was  not  a  hasty  and  inconsiderate  act,  but 
one  that  caused  me  more  anxious  thoughts  than  any  other  of  my  life. 
But  after  full  and  mature  consideration  of  all  the  pros  and  com,  I  was 
reluctantly  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  order  must  be  issued — there 
was  to  my  mind  no  alternative. 

Allow  me  to  allude  to  a  few  of  the  facts  in  the  oase. 

You  and  your  officers  at  our  interview  estimated  the  enemy's  forces  in 
and  around  Richmond  at  two  hundred  thousand  men.  Since  then,  you 
and  others  report  that  they  have  received  and  are  receiving  large 
re-enforcements  from  the  South.  General  Pope's  army,  covering  Wash- 
ington, is  only  about  forty  thousand.  Your  effective  force  is  only  about 
ninety  thousand.  You  are  thirty  miles  from  Richmond,  and  General 
Pope  eighty  or  ninety,  with  the  enemy  directly  between  you,  ready  to /all 


300  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

with  hin  superior  numbers  upon  one  or  the  other  as  he  may  elect;  neither 
tan  re-btiforce  the  other  in  case  of  such  an  attach. 

If  General  Pope's  army  be  diminished  to  re-enforce  yon,  Washington, 
Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania  would  be  left  uncovered  and  exposed.  If 
your  force  be  reduced  to  strengthen  Pope,  you  would  be  too  weak  to 
even  hold  the  position  you  now  occupy,  should  the  enemy  turn  round 
and  attack  you  in  full  force.  In  other  words,  the  old  Army  of  the 
Potomac  is  split  into  two  parts,  with  the  entire  force  of  the  enemy 
directly  between  them.  They  cannot  be  united  by  land  without  expo- 
sir  g  both  to  destruction,  and  yet  they  must  be  united.  To  send  Pope's 
forces  by  water  to  the  Peninsula  is,  under  present  circumstances,  a 
military  impossibility.  The  only  alternative  is  to  send  the  forces  on  the 
Peninsula  to  some  point  by  water,  say  Fredericksburg,  where  the  two 
armies  can  be  united. 

Let  me  now  allude  to  some  of  the  objections  which  you  have  urged : 
you  say  that  the  withdrawal  from  the  present  position  will  cause  the 
certain  demoralization  of  the  army,  "  which  is  now  in  excellent  discipline 
and  condition." 

I  cannot  understand  why  a  simple  change  of  position  to  a  new  and 
by  no  means  distant  base  will  demoralize  an  army  in  excellent  discipline, 
unless  the  officers  themselves  assist  in  that  demoralization,  which  I  am 
satisfied  they  will  not. 

Your  change  of  front  from  your  extreme  right  at  Hanover  Court-Honsa 
to  your  present  condition  was  over  thirty  miles,  but  I  have  not  heard 
that  it  demoralized  your  troops,  notwithstanding  the  severe  losses  they 
sustained  in  effecting  it. 

A  new  base  on  the  Rappahannock  at  Fredericksburg  brings  you  within 
about  sixty  miles  of  Richmond,  and  secures  a  re-enforcement  of  forty  ot 
fifty  thousand  fresh  and  disciplined  troops. 

The  change  with  such  advantages  will,  I  think,  if  properly  represented 
to  your  army,  encourage  rather  than  demoralize  your  troops.     Moreover 
you  yourself  suggested  that  a  junction  might  be  effected  at  Yorkk  wii 
but  that  a  flank  march  across  the  isthmus  would  be  more  hazardous  thai. 
to  retire  to  Fort  Monroe. 

You  will  remember  that  Yorktown  is  two  or  three  miles  further  than 
Fredericksburg  is.  Besides,  the  latter  is  between  Richmond  and  Wash- 
ington, and  covers  Washington  from  any  attack  of  the  enemy. 

The  political  effect  of  the  withdrawal  may  at  first  be  unfavorable  ;  bnt 
I  think  the  public  are  beginning  to  understand  its  necessity,  and  that  they 
will  have  much  more  confidence  in  a  united  army  than  in  its  separated 
fragments. 

But  you  will  reply,  why  not  re-enforce  me  here,  so  that  I  can  strike 
Richmond  from  my  present  position  ?  To  do  this,  you  said,  at  our  inter- 
view, that  you  required  thirty  thousand  additional  troops.  I  told  yon 
that  it  was  impossible  to  give  you  so  many.     You  finally  thought  you 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  303 

would  have  "  some  chance  "  of  success  with  twenty  thousand.  But  you 
afterwards  telegraphed  me  that  you  would  require  thirty-five  thousand, 
as  the  enemy  was  being  largely  re-enforced. 

If  your  estimate  of  the  enemy's  strength  was  correct,  your  requisition 
was  perfectly  reasonable ;  but  it  was  utterly  impossible  to  fill  it  until 
new  troops  could  be  enlisted  and  organized,  which  would  require  several 
weeks. 

To  keep  your  army  in  its  present  position  until  it  could  be  so  re  en- 
forced would  almost  destroy  it  in  that  climate. 

The  months  of  August  and  September  are  almost  fatal  to  whites  who 
live  on  that  part  of  James  River;  and  even  after  you  received  the  re-en- 
forcements asked  for,  you  admitted  that  you  must  reduce  Fort  Darling! 
and  the  river  batteries  before  you  could  advance  on  Richmond. 

It  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  reduction  of  these  fortifications 
would  not  require  considerable  time — perhaps  as  much  as  those  at  York- 
town. 

This  delay  might  not  only  be  fatal  to  the  health  of  your  army,  but  in 
the  mean  time  General  Pope's  forces  would  be  exposed  to  the  heavy 
blows  of  the  enemy  without  the  slightest  hope  of  assistance  from  you. 

In  regard  to  the  demoralizing  eftect  of  a  withdrawal  from  the  Penin- 
sula to  the  Rappahannock,  I  must  remark  that  a  large  number  of  your 
highest  officers,  indeed  a  majority  of  those  whose  opinions  have  been  re- 
ported to  me,  are  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  movement.  Even  several  of 
those  who  originally  advocated  the  line  of  the  Peninsula  now  advise  its 
abandonment. 

I  have  not  inquired,  and  do  not  wish  to  know,  by  whose  advice  or  for 
what  reasons  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  separated  into  two  parts, 
with  the  enemy  between  them.     I  must  take  things  as  I  find  them. 

I  find  the  forces  divided,  and  I  wish  to  unite  them.  Only  one  feasible 
plan  has  been  presented  for  doing  this.  If  you,  or  any  one  else,  had 
presented  a  better  plan,  I  certainly  should  have  adopted  it.  But  all  of 
your  plans  require  re-enforcements  which  it  is  impossible  to  give  you. 
It  is  very  easy  to  asJc  for  re-enforcements,  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to  give 
them  when  you  have  no  disposable  troops  at  your  command. 

I  have  written  very  plainly  as  I  understand  the  case,  and  I  hope  you 
will  give  me  credit  for  having  fully  considered  the  matter,  although  I  raaj 
have  arrived  at  very  different  conclusions  from  your  own. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  H.  Hallkok,   General-in-Chief. 

Major-General  G.  B.  MoClellan,  Commanding,  etc.,  Berkeley,  Virginia. 

The  order  for  the  removal  of  the  sick  was  given  to 
General  McClellan  on  the  2d  of  August.  On  the  7th,  li8 
reported,  that  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  frrtv 


302  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

had  been  sent,  and  five  thousand  seven  hundred  still 
remained.  On  the  9th,  General  Halleck  telegraphed 
McClellan  that  the  enemy  was  massing  his  forces  in  front 
of  General  Pope  and  Burnside  to  crush  them  and  move 
upon  Washington,  and  that  re-enforcements  must  at  once 
be  sent  to  Aquia  Creek ;  to  which  he  replied  that  he 
would  "move  the  whole  army  as  soon  as  the  sick  were 
disposed  of."  On  the  12th,  in  reply  to  the  most  pressing 
orders  for  immediate  dispatch  from  General  Halleck,  who 
urged  that  Burnside  had  moved  thirteen  thousand  troops 
in  two  days  to  Aquia  Creek,  General  McClellan  said  if 
Washington  was  in  danger,  that  army  could  scarcety 
arrive  in  time  to  save  it.  On  the  14th,  he  announced 
that  the  movement  had  commenced ;  on  the  17th,  he  said 
he  "should  not  feel  entirely  secure  until  he  had  the 
whole  army  beyond  the  Chickahominy,  but  that  he 
would  then  begin  to  forward  troops  by  water  as  fast  as 
transportation  would  permit.' '  On  the  23d,  General 
Franklin's  Corps  started  from  Fortress  Monroe;  General 
McClellan  followed  the  next  day,  and  reached  Aquia 
Creek  on  the  24th,  and  Alexandria  on  the  evening  of  the 
26th  of  August. 

On  the  27th  of  June  the  President  had  issued  an  order 
consolidating  into  one  army,  to  be  called  the  Army  of 
Virginia,  the  forces  under  Major- Generals  Fremont, 
Banks,  and  McDowell.  The  command  of  this  army  was 
assigned  to  Major-General  John  Pope ;  and  the  army  was 
divided  into  three  corps,  of  which  the  first  was  assigned 
to  Fremont,  the  second  to  Banks,  and  the  third  to  Mc- 
Dowell. Upon  receiving  this  order,  Major-General  Fre- 
mont applied  to  be  relieved  from  the  command  which  it 
assigned  him,  on  the  ground  that  ~hy  the  appointment  of 
General  Pope  to  the  chief  command,  his  (Fremont's) 
position  was  "subordinate  and  inferior  to  that  heretofore 
held  by  him,  and  to  remain  in  the  subordinate  rank  now 
assigned  him  would  largely  reduce  his  rank  and  consid- 
eration in  the  service."  In  compliance  with  his  request, 
General  Fremont  was  at  once  relieved. 

On  the  27th  of  August,  General  McClellan  was  ordered 


State  Papeiis  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  303 

by  General  Halleck  to  "take  entire  direction  of  the  send- 
ing out  of  the  troops  from  Alexandria"  to  re-enforce 
Pope,  whom  the  enemy  were  pressing  with  a  powerful 
array,  and  whose  head -quarters  were  then  at  Warrenton 
Junction.  A  portion  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  which 
arrived  before  General  McCleilan,  had  at  once  gone  for- 
ward to  the  aid  of  Pope ;  of  those  which  arrived  after 
him,  or  which  were  at  Alexandria  when  he  arrived,  not 
one  reached  the  field,  or  took  any  part  in  the  battles  by 
which  the  army  was  saved  from  destruction  and  the  Capi- 
tal from  capture. 

The  extent  to  which  General  McCleilan,  who  had  the 
"  entire  direction  of  the  sending  of  these  re-enforcements," 
was  responsible  for  this  result,  is  a  matter  of  so  much 
importance,  not  only  to  himself  and  the  Government, 
but  to  the  whole  country,  as  to  demand  a  somewhat 
detailed  examination. 

In  his  report  of  August  4th,  1863,  after  giving  a 
portion  only  of  the  correspondence  between  himself 
and  the  Government  on  this  subject,  General  McCleilan 
says : — 

It  will  be  seen  from  what  has  preceded  that  I  lost  no  time  that  conld 
be  avoided  in  moving  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  from  the  Peninsula  to 
the  support  of  the  Army  of  Virginia ;  that  I  spared  no  effort  to  hasten 
the  embarkation  of  the  troops  at  Fort  Monroe,  Newport  News,  and 
Yorktown,  remaining  at  Fort  Monroe  myself  until  the  mass  of  the  army 
had  sailed;  and  that  after  my  arrival  at  Alexandria,  I  left  nothing  in  my 
power  undone  to  forward  supplies  and  re-enforcements  to  General  Pope. 
I  sent,  with  troops  that  moved,  all  the  cavalry  I  could  get  hold  of.  Even 
my  personal  escort  was  sent  out  upon  the  line  of  the  railway  as  a  guard, 
with  the  provost  and  camp  guards  at  head-quarters,  retaining  less  than 
one  hundred  men,  many  of  whom  were  orderlies,  invalids,  members  of 
bands,  &c.  All  the  head -quarters  teams  that  arrived  were  sent  out  with 
supplies  and  ammunition,  none  being  retained  even  to  move  the  head- 
quarters camp.  The  squadron  that  habitually  served  as  my  personal 
escort  was  left  at  Falmouth  with  General  Burnside,  as  he  was  deficient  in 
cavalry. 

Before  taking  up  more  important  matters,  it  may  be 
well  to  remark,  that  as  General  McCleilan  was  in 
the    City    of    Alexandria,  and    not    in    any    way    ex- 


304  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

posed  to  personal  danger,  it  is  difficult  to  appreciate 
the  merit  he  seems  to  make  of  yielding  up  his  per- 
sonal escort,  provost  and  camp  guards,  and  head-quar- 
ter baggage -teams,  when  he  had  no  use  for  them  himself, 
and  when  they  were  needed  for  the  purpose  for  which 
they  are  maintained — operating  against  the  enemy,  and 
that  too  in  a  pressing  emergency.  Even  as  it  was,  he 
seems  to  have  retained  nearly  a  hundred,  many  of  whom 
he  says  were  orderlies,  &c,  &c,  around  his  person. 

Leaving  this  personal  matter,  we  come  to  the  important 
question — Is  it  true  that  General  McClellan  left,  as  he 
avers,  nothing  undone  in  his  power  to  forward  supplies  and 
re-enforcements  to  General  Pope' s  army  ?  Did  he,  on  this 
momentous  occasion,  honestly  and  faithfully  do  his  whole 
duty  in  this  respect,  without  any  personal  aims,  or  any 
jealousy,  and  with  the  single  eye  to  the  success  of  our 
arms,  and  the  honor,  welfare,  and  glory  of  the  nation? 

He  had  been  repeatedly  urged  to  hurry  forward  the 
troops  from  the  Peninsula.  On  the  9th  of  August,  he  was 
informed  by  General  Halleck  that  "the  enemy  is  massing 
his  forces  in  front  of  Generals  Pope  and  Burnside  to  try 
and  crush  them,  and  move  forward  to  the  Potomac ;"  and 
was  further  told,  "  Considering  the  amount  of  transporta- 
tion at  your  disposal,  your  delay  is  not  satisfactory.  You 
must  77iove  witfi  all  celerity." 

Again,  on  the  10th,  General  Halleck  informed  him  that 
"  the  enemy  is  crossing  the  Rapidan  in  large  force.  They 
are  fighting  General  Pope  to-day.  There  must  be  no  fur- 
ther delay  in  your  movements :  that  which  has  already 
occurred  was  entirely  unexpected,  and  must  be  satisfac- 
torily explained.  Let  not  a  moment's  time  be  lost,  and 
telegraph  me  daily  what  progress  you  have  made  in  exe- 
cuting the  order  to  transfer  your  troops."  Again,  on  the 
21st,  he  was  told,  "the  forces  of  Burnside  and  Pope  are 
hard  pushed,  and  require  aid  as  rapidly  as  you  can.  By 
ail  means  see  that  the  troops  sent  have  plenty  of  ammuni- 
tion. We  have  no  time  to  supply  them  ;  moreover,  they 
may  have  to  fight  as  soon  as  they  land." 

Whether  or  not  the  delays  of  General  McClellan  wera 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  305 

excusable,  those  telegrams  must  Lave  shown  him,  if  proof 
were  necessary,  the  emergency  in  which  Pope  was  placed, 
and  that  the  concentration  of  the  two  armies  was  not  be- 
ing effected  in  the  time  expected,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
that  Pope  was  in  a  critical  position,  needing  immediate 
help  to  save  his  army  from  defeat.  It  was  under  these 
circumstances  that  General  McClellan  left  the  Peninsula. 

When  he  reached  Aquia  on  the  24th,  under  most  posi  • 
tive  and  pressing  orders  from  Washington,  General  Pope, 
who  had  been  holding  the  line  of  the  Rappahannock  for 
nearly  a  week  against  the  assaults  of  Lee' s  whole  army, 
and  keeping  up  communication  with  Fredericksburg,  so 
as  to  receive  the  re-enforcements  McClellan  had  been 
ordered  to  send  up  from  the  Peninsula — finding  these 
re-enforcements  not  coming  by  water  to  join  his  left  as 
fast  as  Lee  marched  by  land  around  his  right,  and  that 
his  right,  though  stretched  to  Waterloo  Bridge,  had  been 
turned  and  his  rear  threatened,  had  been  obliged  to  throw 
back  his  right,  first  to  Warrenton,  and  then  to  Gaines- 
ville, and  his  left  and  centre  from  Rappahannock  and 
Sulphur  Springs  to  Warrenton  Junction,  Bristol,  and 
Manassas.  General  McClellan  knew  on  the  24th,  when 
at  Aquia,  of  the  abandoning  of  Rappahannock  Station, 
and  of  Pope's  having  broken  his  communication  with 
Fredericksburg,  and  himself  reported  the  facts  to  Geneial 
Halleck. 

August  26th,  General  Halleck  ordered  General  Mc- 
Clellan from  Aquia  to  Alexandria,  and  told  him  "  Gen- 
eral Franklin's  Corps,"  which  had  arrived  at  Alexan- 
dria, "  will  march  as  soon  as  it  receives  transportation." 

General  Pope  had,  when  his  line  was  stretched  from 
below  Rappahannock  Station  to  beyond  Warrenton, 
asked  that  Franklin's  Corps  might  be  sent  out  to  take 
post  on  his  right  at  Gainesville,  to  which  there  was 
transportation  by  turnpike  and  railroad,  to  guard  against 
what  afterwards  happened — the  movement  of  the  enemy 
through  that  place  on  his  rear.  The  failure  to  have  that 
corps  at  that  place,  or  in  the  action  at  all,  was  one  of  the 
chief  causes  of  Pope's  failure.     Why  was  this  ? 

20 


306  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

August  27th,  as  already  stated,  General  McClellan  was 
directed  "to  take  entire  direction  of  the  sending  out  of 
the  troops  from  Alexandria."  On  the  same  day  he  was 
informed  of  the  position  of  Pope's  head-quarters  ;  of  that 
of  most  of  Pope's  forces;  of  where  Pope  wished  f* 
enforcements  sent  him — Gainesville;  and  that  Fitz-  J  >h  n 
Porter,  then  under  Pope,  reported  a  battle  imminent.  At 
10  a.m.  on  that  day,  he  was  told  by  Halleck,  "that 
Franklin's  Corps  should  march  in  that  direction  (Manas- 
sas) as  soon  as  possible  ;"  and  again  at  12  p.  m.,  he  was 
further  told  by  Halleck  that  "  Franklin's  Corps  should 
move  out  by  forced  marches,  carry  iiig  three  or  four  days'' 
provisions,  and  to  be  supplied  as  far  as  possible  by 
railroad" 

It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  these  explicit  orders,  and  the 
circumstances  under  which,  and  the  object  for  which 
they  were  given,  for  General  McClellan  either  seems  to 
have  forgotten  them,  or  to  have  utterly  failed  to  appre- 
ciate their  importance.  A  battle  reported  by  his  favorite 
general,  Fitz- John  Porter,  as  imminent,  within  cannoD 
sound  of  where  he  was, — the  road  to  the  battle-field,  a 
wide,  straight,  Macadam  turnpike,  well-known  to  both 
General  McClellan  and  General  Franklin,  as  each  had 
been  over  it  more  than  once, — the  whole  of  the  enemy 
and  army  which  had  been  pressing  Pope  since  the  9th, 
now  concentrating  to  overwhelm  him, — here,  one  would 
think,  was  every  motive  for  him  to  do,  as  he  claims  to 
have  done,  every  thing  in  his  power  to  send  re-enforce- 
ments forward,  and  to  send  them  instantly. 

Why  was  it,  then,  that,  at  7.15  p.  m.  on  the  29th,  more 
than  two  days  after  the  order  for  it  to  go  by  forced 
marches  to  re-enforce  an  army  engaged  in  battle,  Frank- 
lin's Corps,  was  still  at  Anandale,  about  seven  miles  from 
Alexandria,  and  Franklin  himself  in  Alexandria?  Gen 
eral  Halleck  says  it  was  all  contrary  to  his  orders,  and 
McClellan  acknowledges  himself  "  responsible  for  botli 
these  circumstances." 

In  the  mean  time,  Pope's  forces  fought  the  battles  of  the 
27th,  28th,  and  29th,  and  were  now  to  fight  that  of  the 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  307 

80th  without  Franklin's  help.  Why  was  this?  Were 
the  orders  to  send  Franklin  out  countermanded  ?  General 
Halleck  says  they  were  not.  As  it  is  never  just  to  judge 
a  person  by  the  light  obtained  after  the  fact,  let  us  see,  so 
far  as  the  correspondence  enables  us,  what  were  the  dif- 
ferent phases  of  the  case  as  they  presented  themselves  at 
the  time. 

The  intimation  to  McClellan  on  the  26th,  that  Franklin 
was  to  go  to  the  front,  was  followed  by  the  positive  or- 
!  lers  of  the  27th,  given  at  10  a.  m.  and  12  m.  On  that  day 
General  McClellan  reports  that  Generals  Franklin,  Smith, 
and  Slocnm  are  all  in  Washington  ;  and  that  he  had  given 
orders  to  place  the  corps  in  readiness  to  march  to  the 
next  in  rank.  At  the  same  time,  he  reports  heavy  firing 
at  Centreville. 

On  the  28th,  Halleck,  learning  that  McClellan,  who  it 
seems  had  also  gone  to  Washington,  had  not  returned  to 
Alexandria,  sent  orders  to  Franklin  direct,  to  move  with 
his  corps  that  day  (the  28th)  towards  Manassas  Junction. 
On  the  28th,  at  3.30  p.  m.,  Halleck  informs  McClellan  that 
"  not  a  moment  must  be  lost  in  pushing  as  large  a  force 
as  possible  towards  Manassas,  so  as  to  communicate  with 
Pope  before  the  enemy  is  re-enforced.'  ^he  same 

day,  at  7.40  p.  m.,  he  again  tells  him : — 

There  must  be  no  further  delay  in  moving  Franklin's  Corps  towards 
Manassas.  They  must  go  to-morrow  morning,  ready  or  not  ready.  If  wr 
delay  too  long  to  get  ready,  there  will  be  no  necessity  to  go  at  all,  for 
Pope  will  either  be  defeated  or  victorious  without  our  aid.  If  there  is  a 
want  of  wagons,  the  men  must  carry  provisions  with  them  till  the  wagon* 
«*.ome  to  their  relief. 

There  is  no  possible  room  for  misunderstanding  the  in 
tention  of  the  General-in-Chief  from  these  orders.    He 
wished,  and  ordered,  that  communication  should  be  at 
once  re-established  with  Pope,  and  Pope  re-enforced  in 
time  to  be  of  service. 

Why  did  not  McClellan  re-establish  the  communication, 
and  re-enforce  Pope  in  time  to  be  of  service  ?  Why  did 
fie  halt  Franklin's  Corps  at  Anandale  ? 

He  gives  reasons  for  this  in  Ms  telegram  to  Halleck  of 


S08  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

August  29th.  "  By  referring  to  my  telegrams,"  he  saysj 
"  of  10.30  a.  m.,  12  m.,  and  1  p.  M.,  together  with  youi 
leply  of  2.48  p.  m.,  you  will  see  why  Franklin' s  Corps  halt- 
fed  at  Anandale."  Let  us  examine  these  telegrams  in 
connection  with  the  circumstances  then  existing.  The 
first  is  as  follows : — 

Camp  near  Alexandria,  August  29, 10.80  a.  k. 

Franklin's  Corps  are  in  motion ;  started  about  six  a.  m.  I  can  give  him 
but  two  squadrons  of  cavalry.  I  propose  moving  General  Cox  to  Upton's 
Hill  to  bold  tbat  important  point  with  its  works,  and  to  push  cavalry 
scouts  to  Vienna  via  Freeman's  Hill  and  Hunter's  Lane.  Cox  bas  two 
squadrons  of  cavalry.  Please  answer  at  once  wbether  tbis  meets  your 
approval.  I  bave  directed  Woodbury,  with  the  Engineer  Brigade,  to 
bold  Fort  Lyon.  Sumner  detached  last  night  two  regiments  to  the  vicinity 
of  Forts  Ethan  Allen  and  Marcy.  Meagher's  Brigade  is  still  at  Aquia. 
If  Sumner  moves  in  support  of  Franklin,  it  leaves  us  without  any  reliable 
troops  in  and  near  Washington  ;  yet  Franklin  is  too  weak  alone.  What 
shall  be  done  ?  No  more  cavalry  arrived.  Have  but  three  squadrons  be- 
longing to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Franklin  has  but  forty  rounds  of 
ammunition,  and  no  wagons  to  move  more.  I  do  not  think  Franklin  is 
In  a  condition  to  accomplish  much  if  he  meets  strong  resistance.  I  should 
not  have  moved  him  out  for  your  pressing  orders  of  last  night.  What  iiave 
you  from  Vienna  and  Drainsville  ? 

Geo.  B.  McClellan,  Major- General. 

Major-General  H.  W.  Halleok,  General-in-Chief. 

To  this  Halleck  replies  : — 

"War  Dhpartment,  Washington,  D.  C,  August  29  1862. 

Upton's  Hill  arrangement  all  right.  We  must  send  wagons  and  am- 
munition to  Franklin  as  fast  as  they  arrive.  Meagher's  Brigade  ordered 
up  yesterday.  Fitzhugh  Lee  was,  it  is  said  on  good  authority,  in  Alex- 
andria on  Sunday  last  for  three  hours.     I  hear  nothing  from  Drainsville. 

H.  W.  Halleok,  General-in-Chief. 

Major-General  MoClellan,  Alexandria. 

To  this  McClellan  sends  the  second  of  the  dispatches  he 
refers  to,  as  follows.  There  are  two  telegrams  of  the  same 
date : — 

IIkad-Quap.teks  Army  Potomac,  August  29, 1862, 12  m. 

Your  telegram  received.  Do  you  wish  the  movement  of  Franklin's 
Corps  to  continue?  Ho  is  without  reserve  ammunition,  and  without 
transportation.  Geo.  H.  McClellan,  Major- General. 

Major-General  H.  W.  Halleok,  General-in-Chief. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  309 


Head-Quarters  Armt  Potomac,  J 

Alexandria,  Virginia,  August  29, 1S62, 12  x.  j 

Have  ordered  most  of  the  12th  Pennsylvania  Cavalry  to  report  to  Gen. 
eral  Bernard  for  scouting  duty  towards  Rockville,  Poolesville,  &c  If 
you  apprehend  a  raid  of  cavalry  on  your  side  of  river,  I  had  hetter  send 
a  brigade  or  two  of  Sumner's  to  near  Tennallytown.  "Would  it  meet 
your  views  to  post  rest  of  Sumner's  Corps  between  Arlington  and  Fort 
Corcoran,  where  they  can  either  support  Cox,  Franklin,  Chain  Bridge, 
and  even  Tennallytown? 

Franklin  has  only  ten  thousand  to  eleven  thousand  ready  for  duty. 
How  far  do  you  wish  the  force  to  advance? 

Geo.  B.  MoClellan,  Major- General  U.  8.  Army. 

Major-General  Halleok,  General-in-  Chief. 

Then  follows  the  telegram  of  1  p.  m.  : — 

Head-Quarters  near  Alexandria,     | 
August  29, 1 862,  1p.m.  f 

I  anxiously  await  reply  to  my  last  dispatch  in  regard  to  Sumner.  Wis! 
to  give  order  at  once.  Please  authorize  me  to  attach  new  regiments  per- 
manently to  my  old  brigades.  I  can  do  much  good  to  old  and  new  troops 
in  that  way.  I  shall  endeavor  to  hold  a  line  in  advance  of  Forts  Allen 
and  Marsh,  at  least  with  strong  advanced  guards.  I  wish  to  hold  the 
line  through  Prospect  Hill,  Marshall's,  Miner's,  and  Hall's  Hills.  This 
will  give  us  timely  warning.  Shall  I  do  as  seems  lest  to  me  with  all  the 
troops  in  this  vicinity,  including  Franklin,  who  I  really  think  ought  not, 
under  the  present  circumstances,  to  proceed  oeyond  Anandale  t 

Geo.  B.  McClellan,  Major- General. 

General  Halleok,   General-in-  Chief. 

It  certainly  is  not  easy  to  discover  in  these  dispatches 
any  indications  of  a  strong  desire  to  re-enforce  the  Array 
of  the  Potomac,  then  fighting  a  battle  in  his  front  and 
within  his  hearing,  but  under  another  commander.  They 
evince  no  special  interest  in  the  result  of  that  battle,  or 
the  fate  of  that  army — the  army  for  which,  while  under 
his  command,  he  had  expressed  so  much  affection,  and 
whose  defeat  he  afterwards  declared,  when  he  was  again 
at  its  head,  would  be  incomparably  more  disastrous  to  the 
nation  than  the  capture  of  Washington  itself.  We  find 
in  these  dispatches,  which  he  cites  in  his  own  vindica- 
tion, no  eyiienee  to  sustain  the  declaration  of  14s  report* 


310  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

that  from  the  moment  of  his  arrival  at  Alexandria  he 
uleft  nothing  in  his  power  undone  to  forward  supplies 
and  re-enforcements  to  General  Pope."  On  the  contrary, 
they  seem  to  show  that  he  had  decided  to  do,  what  in  a 
telegram  of  the  same  date  he  had  suggested  to  the  Presi- 
dent, "leave  Pope  to  get  out  of  his  scrape,"  and  devote 
himself  exclusively  to  the  safety  of  Washington.*  He 
thinks  any  disposition  of  Franklin's  and  Sumner's  troops 
wise,  except  sending  them  forward  to  re-enforce  Pope. 
He  is  anxious  to  send  them  to  Upton's  Hill,  to  Chain 
Bridge,  to  Tennallytown,  to  Arlington,  and  Fort  Corco- 
ran— anywhere  and  everywhere  except  where  they  were 
wanted  most,  and  where  alone  they  could  assist  in  get- 
ting Pope  "out  of  his  scrape,"  and  in  saving  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  It  was  natural  and  proper  that  he 
should  give  attention  to  the  defence  of  Washington,  for 
he  had,  as  General  Helleck  says,  "general  authority  over 
all  the  troops"  that  were  defending  it.  But  his  special 
duty  was  "sending  out  troops  from  Alexandria  to  re-en- 
force Pope."  Why  did  he  give  so  much  attention  to  the 
former,  and  so  little  to  the  latter  duty  ?  Why  was  it  that, 
from  the  time  of  his  landing  at  Alexandria,  not  another 
man  of  his  army  joined  Pope,  or  made  a  diversion  in  his 
favor,  till  after  Pope  had  fallen  back  from  Manassas  and 
fought  four  battles  without  the  aid  he  had  a  right  to  ex- 
pect, and  which  General  McClellan  was  repeatedly  and 
peremptorily  ordered  to  give  ? 
Those  of  McClellan' s  forces  which  had  reached  Alex 

*  On  the  29th  he  had  telegraphed  to  the  President  as  follows : — 

I  am  clear  that  one  of  two  courses  should  be  adopted :  First,  to  concentrate 
all  our  available  forces  to  open  communications  with  Pope ;  second,  to  leave 
Pope  to  get  out  of  ms  scrape,  and  at  once  use  all  our  means  to  make  the  Capi- 
tal perfectly  safe.  No  middle  ground  will  now  answer.  TeJl  nv»  what  you  wish 
me  to  do,  and  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to  accomplish  it. 

To  this  the  President  had  thus  replied  :— 

Washington,  August  29, 1862-4.  10  p  u. 

Yours  of  to-day  just  received.  I  think  your  first  alternative,  to  wit,  "  to 
concentrate  all  our  available  forces  to  open  communication  with  Pope,"  is  th« 
right  one,  but  I  wish  not  to  control.  That  T  now  leave  to  General  Halleck,  aided 
by  vour  counsels.  A-  Lincqln. 

Major-General  McCLEiiLiK 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  oil 

andria  before  him,  or  were  there  before  his  arrival,  Stur- 
gis,  Kearney,  Hooker,  and  Heintzelman,  had  all  gone 
forward  and  joined  in  these  battles.  Why  conld  not 
Franklin — all  of  whose  movements  were  controlled  by 
McClellan— do  as  much  with  him  as  his  brother  com- 
manders had  done  without  him  1 

The  first  thing  that  McClellan  did,  on  reaching  Alex- 
andria, in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  to  send  forward 
troops,  was  to  stop  those  actually  going  !     In  his  dispatch 
of  August  27th,  nine  o'clock  p.  m.,  he  says  to  General 
ilaileck— "  I  found  part  of  Cox's  command  under  orders 
to  take  the  cars :  will  halt  it  with  Franklin  until  morn 
ing  ! "     And  Cox  never  went  out,  though  anxiously  ex 
pected  and  under  orders  to  move.     What  are  the  reasons 
given  by  McClellan  for  not  sending,  or  not  permitting 
Franklin  to  go  ?    On  the  27th,  at  quarter  past  eleven  p.  m  . 
immediately  after  the  positive  order  was  issued  for  Frank 
lin  to  move  by  forced  marches  and  carry  three  or  four 
days'  provisions,  McClellan  says : — 

Franklin's  artillery  has  no  horses  except  for  four  guns  without  cais- 
§ons.  I  can  pick  up  no  cavalry.  *  *  I  do  not  see  that  we  have  force 
enough  in  hand  to  form  a  connection  with  Pope,  whose  exact  position  we 
4o  not  know. 

A  part  of  the  perplexity  he  seems  to  have  been  in  was 
removed  that  day  at  six  o'clock  p.  m.,  when  he  received, 
as  he  says,  a  copy  of  a  dispatch  from  Pope  to  Halleck,  in 
which  Pope  says :  "All  forces  now  sent  forward  should 
be  sent  to  my  right  at  Gainesville." 

The  next  day,  at  one  o'clock  p.  m.,  he  telegraphs : — 

"I  have  been  doing  all  possible  to  hurry  artillery  and  cavalry.  The 
moment  Franklin  can  be  started  with  a  reasonable  amount  of  artillery  he 
•hall  go." 

Again,  at  forty  minutes  past  four  of  the  28th,  he  tele- 
graphs : — 

General  Franklin  is  with  me  here.  I  will  know  in  a  few  moments  the 
condition  of  artillery  and  cavalry.  We  are  not  yet  in  a  condition  to 
move ;  may  be  by  to-morrow  morning. 


312  •   The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

A.  few  moments  later,  he  says : — 

Your  dispatch  received.  Neither  Franklin's  nor  Sumner's  Corps  it 
now  in  a  condition  to  move  and  fight  a  battle.  It  would  be  a  sacrifice  to 
send  them  out  now  I  I  have  sent  aids  to  ascertain  the  condition  of  Col- 
onel Ty.e». ;  but  I  still  think  that  a  premature  movement  in  small  foro* 
will  accomplish  nothing  but  the  destruction  of  the  troops  sent  out. 

The  small  force  (?)  to  which  he  refers  consisted,  as  here- 
tofore stated,  of  Sumner's  Corps  of  fourteen  thousand 
and  Franklin's  of  eleven  thousand,  a  total  of  twenty -five 
thousand — not  going  to  fight  a  battle  "by  itself,  but  to  re- 
enforce  an  army  already  engaged,  and  constituting  cer- 
tainly a  handsome  re-enforcement  on  any  field.  On  the 
29th,  he  says : — 

Franklin  has  but  forty  rounds  of  ammunition,  and  no  wagons  to  move 
more.  I  do  not  think  Franklin  is  in  a  condition  to  accomplish  much  if 
he  meets  strong  resistance.  I  should  not  have  moved  him  but  for  your 
pressing  orders  of  last  night. 

On  this  same  day : — 

Do  you  wish  the  movement  of  Franklin's  Corps  to  continue?  He  is 
without  reserve  ammunition  and  without  transportation. 

It  may  be  remarked  here,  that  Franklin  had  not  yet 
gone  beyond  Anandale — about  seven  miles — and  had,  as 
yet,  neither  come  upon  the  enemy,  nor  joined  the  army  in 
front,  nor  gained  any  information  about  either.  If,  there- 
fore, his  movement  was  not  to  continue,  it  must  be  be- 
cause it  was  too  hazardous,  or  because  he  had  no  reserve 
ammunition  or  transportation. 

So,  it  seems,  it  was  General  McClellan's  judgment  that 
Franklin  cc^ild  not  be  sent,  as  soon  as  he  landed,  to  re- 
enforce  Pope — because,  first,  he  had  his  artillery  only 
partially  mounted  ;  second,  he  had  no  cavalry ;  third,  he 
had  but  forty  rounds  of  ammunition,  and  no  transporta- 
tion for  more.  The  subsequent  difficulties  were,  that  he 
had  no  transportation  for  his  reserve  ammunition,  and 
was  too  weak  alone,  and  Sumner  ought  not  to  be  sent  to 
aupport  him,  as  if  would  leave  the  Capital  unprotected ! 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  313 

It  is  fortunate  some  of  McClellan' s  Corps  preceded  him 
from  the  Peninsula,  and  arrived  and  marched  before  he 
came  up.  For,  if  not,  two  of  the  corps  who  joined  Pope 
and  fought  under  him  would  have  been  halted  for  the 
reascns  that  stayed  Franklin.  Kearney  joined  without 
artillery,  and  Pope  ordered  two  batteries  to  be  given 
him  ;  Porter  had  but  forty  rounds  of  ammunition — Heint- 
zelman  joined  without  cavalry. 

"Why,  may  it  be  asked,  were  " neither  Sumner's  nor 
Franklin' s  Corps  in  a  condition  to  move  and  fight  a  bat- 
tle?" McClellan  had  been  told  that  in  embarking  his 
troops  he  must  see  they  were  supplied  with  ammunition, 
"as  they  might  have  to  fight  as  soon  as  they  landed." 
The  men  were  not  fatigued  by  hard  marches,  nor  ex- 
hausted with  fighting  and  lack  of  food,  as  were  then 
companions  in  front.  What  was  there  to  prevent  their 
going  to  re-enforce  them,  but  the  orders  and  pretexts  for 
delay  of  General  McClellan  ? 

It  will  have  been  noticed  that  lack  of  transportation 
was  at  the  bottom  of  the  alleged  difficulties.  Transpor- 
tation was  not  required  for  supplies,  for  the  men  were 
ordered  to  carry  their  food  with  them.  Is  it  not  strange 
that,  in  view  of  the  emergency  of  the  case,  some  extraor- 
dinary means  were  not  resorted  to,  to  impress  horses  and 
wagons — if  none  existed  in  the  hands  of  the  Government 
— in  the  cities  of  Alexandria,  Georgetown,  and  Washing- 
ton, where  there  was  an  abundance  of  both  %  Such  things 
have  been  done  even  in  this  war,  on  much  less  important 
occasions  than  this  one. 

But  will  not  this  plea  seem  stranger  still  when  it  is 
found  that  there  was  no  need  of  pressing  any  private 
property  into  service — that  there  was  plenty  of  public 
transportation  on  hand?  Let  the  following  dispatch 
show : — 

War  Department,  Washington,  D.  C,  August  80,  186S. 
I  am  by  no  means  satisfied  with  General  Franklin's  march  of  yester- 
day, considering  the  circumstances  of  the  case.     He  was  very  wrong  in 
stopping  at  Alexandria.     Moreover,  I  learned  last  night  that  the  Quarter- 
master's Department  would  have  given  him  plenty  of  transportation  if 


314  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

he  had  applied  for  it  any  time  since  his  arrival  at  Alexandria.  He  knew 
the  importance  of  opening  communication  with  General  Pope's  army, 
and  should  have  acted  more  promptly. 

H.  W.  Halleok,  General-in-  Chief, 
Major-General  McClellan,  Alexandria. 

But  most  strange  of  all  is,  that  General  McClellan  knew 
of  there  being  public  transportation  at  hand,  and  yet  did 
not  use  it,  even  when  the  fate  of  a  campaign  depended 
upon  it,  and  afterwards  assigned  the  want  of  it  as  the 
reason  for  not  obeying  his  orders  to  send  re- enforcements. 
He  says,  in  hip  dispatch  of  August  30,  to  General  Pope : — 

The  quartermasters  here  (Alexandria)  said  there  was  none  disposable. 
The  difficulty  seems  to  consist  in  the  fact  (lie  adds),  that  the  greater  part 
of  the  transportation  on  hand  at  Alexandria  and  Washington  has  been 
needed  for  current  supplies  of  the  garrisons. 

The  inference  is  irresistible  that  General  McClellan, 
who  had  charge  of  every  thing  in  and  around  Alexan- 
dria and  Washington,  thought  it  was  better  that  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  under  Pope,  should  not  be  re- 
enforced,  and  be  defeated,  than  that  the  garrisons  should 
be  subjected  to  the  slightest  inconvenience  ! 

The  answer  of  General  Halleck  to  the  telegrams  of  Gen- 
eral McClellan,  in  which  the  latter  made  so  many  propo- 
sitions about  the  movements  of  Sumner's  Corps  and  the 
disposition  of  Cox's  force  and  the  other  troops  for  th<- 
defence  of  Washington,  is  as  follows : — 

War  Department,  Washington,  D.  C.,  August  29, 1862. 

Your  proposed  disposition  of  Sumner's  Corps  seems  to  me  judicious. 
Of  course  I  have  no  time  to  examine  into  details.  The  present  danger 
is  a  raid  upon  Washington  in  the  night-time.  Dispose  of  all  troops  as 
you  deem  best.  I  want  Franklin's  Corps  to  go  far  enough  to  find  out 
something  about  the  enemy.  Perhaps  he  may  get  such  information  at 
Anandale  as  to  prevent  his  going  further.  Otherwise,  he  will  push  on 
towards  Fairfax.  Try  to  get  something  from  direction  of  Manassas  eithei 
bj  telegrams  or  through  Franklin's  scouts.  Our  people  must  move  *> 
tively  and  find  out  where  the  enemy  is.     I  am  tired  of  guesses. 

H.  W.  Halleok,  Oeneral-in-  Chitf 

Major-General  McCiStLAlT,  Alexandria. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  315 

It  is  in  tliis  dispatch  that  General  Mcdellan  finds  his 
authority  to  halt  Franklin  at  Anandale.  Franklin  had 
been  repeatedly  ordered  to  join  Pope,  but  had  been  de- 
layed by  McClellan,  who  evidently  did  not  intend  he 
should  get  beyond  his  control  if  possible. 

In  his  telegram  to  Halleck  of  one  o'clock  p.  m.  of  the 
29th,  he  asks  if  he  may  do  as  seems  to  him  best  with 
all  the  troops  in  the  vicinity  of  Alexandria,  including 
Franklin — Franklin  being  still  in  the  vicinity  of  Alexan- 
dria. Halleck,  in  giving  him  authority  to  dispose  of  all 
troops  in  his  vicinity  evidently  refers  to  the  disposition 
to  be  made  of  those  for  the  forts  and  defences,  for  he  pro- 
ceeds to  say,  I  want  "  Franklin's  Corps  to  go  far  enough 
to  find  out  something  about  the  enemy."  Franklin's 
Corps  did  not  go  out  far  enough  to  learn  any  thing  about 
the  enemy.  What  he  learned  he  picked  up  at  Anandale 
from  citizens,  and  probably  from  Banks's  wagon-train, 
which  passed  him  as  it  came  from  the  front,  which  it 
seems  it  was  able  to  do  with  safety  at  the  time  McClellan 
considered  it  too  hazardous  for  forty  thousand  men  to 
move  to  the  front  to  join  the  army. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  pursue  this  matter  any  further,  and 
show,  as  might  easily  be  done,  how  similar  delays  were 
procured  with  respect  to  other  troops  which  might  have 
been  sent  to  re-enforce  Pope.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
forty  thousand  men,  exclusive  of  Burnside's  force,  wero 
thus — as  it  seems  to  us  intentionally — withheld  from  Pop<i 
at  the  time  he  was  engaged  in  holding  the  army  of  Lee  in 
check. 

Having  thus  disposed  of  the  question  of re-enforcements, 
it  now  remains  to  say  a  word  about  supplies,  which  Gen- 
eral McClellan  says  he  left  nothing  undone  to  forward  to 
Pope. 

When  at  Fort  Monroe  he  telegraphed  (August  21st,  10. 
62  p.  m.)  :— 

I  have  ample  supplies  of  ammunition  for  infantry  and  artillery,  and 
will  have  it  up  in  time.  /  can  supply  any  deficiency  that  may  exist  in 
General  Pope's  army. 


316  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

August  the  30th  (1.45  p.  m.),  General  Halteck  tele- 
graphed him : — 

Ammunition,  and  particularly  for  artillery,  must  be  immediately  sent 
forward  to  Centreville  for  General  Pope. 

To  which  he  replied  : — 

1  know  nothing  of  the  calibres  of  Pope's  artillery.     All  I  can  do  is  t 
direct  my  ordnance  officer  to  load  up  all  the  wagons  sent  to  him. 

General  McClellan  might  have  very  easily  found  out 
those  calibres.  His  ordnance  officer  knew  those  of  the 
corps  of  his  own  army,  and  he  was  in  telegraphic  commu- 
nication with  the  ordnance  officer  in  Washington,  where  a 
register  is  kept  of  all  the  batteries  in  service. 

What  was  his  course  with  respect  to  supplies  of  forage 
and  subsistence,  of  which  Pope's  army  was  in  such  ex- 
treme need  ? 

He  directed  Franklin  to  say  to  Pope  he  would  send 
liim  out  supplies  if  he,  Pope,  would  send  cavalry  to  es- 
cort them  out!  "Such  a  request"  (says  Pope,  in  his 
dispatch  of  5  a.  m.,  August  30),  "when  Alexandria  is  full 
of  troops,  and  I  fighting  the  enemy,  needs  no  comment." 


The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under  General  Pope,  was 
defeated  and  driven  back  upon  Washington.  But  it  had 
contested  every  inch  of  the  ground,  and  had  fought  every 
battle  with  a  gallantry  and  tenacious  courage  that  would 
have  insured  a  decisive  victory  if  it  had  been  properly 
and  promptly  supported.  It  was  not  broken,  either  in 
spirit  or  in  organization  ;  and  it  fell  back  upon  the  Capital 
prepared  to  renew  the  struggle  for  its  salvation. 

By  this  time,  however,  General  McCleJlan  had  become 
the  recognized  head  of  a  political  party  in  the  country, 
and  a  military  clique  in  the  army  ;  and  it  suited  the  pur- 
poses of  both  to  represent  the  defeat  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  as  due  to  the  fact  that  General  McClellan  was 
no  longer  at  its  head.  The  progress  of  the  rebel  army, 
moreover,  up  the  Potomac,  with  the  evident  intention  of 
moving  upon  Baltimore  or  into  Pennsylvania,  had  created 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  317 

a  state  of  feeling  throughout  the  country  and  in  Washing- 
ton eminently  favorable  to  the  designs  of  General  Mc- 
Clellan's  partisans;  and  upon  the  urgent  but  unjust  rep- 
resentation of  some  of  his  officers  that  the  army  would 
not  serve  under  any  other  commander,  General  Pope  was 
relieved,  and  General  McClellan  again  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  on  the  4th  of  September 
he  commenced  the  movement  into  Maryland  to  repel  the 
invading  rebel  forces. 

On  the  11th,  he  made  urgent  application  for  re-enforee- 
ments,  asking  that  Colonel  Milet  be  withdrawn  from  Har- 
per' s  Perry,  and  that  one  or  two  of  the  three  army  corps 
on  the  Potomac,  opposite  Washington,  be  at  once  sent  to 
join  him.  "Even  if  Washington  should  be  taken,' ?  he 
said,  "while  these  armies  are  confronting  each  other,  this 
would  not  in  my  judgment  bear  comparison  with  the  ruin 
and  disaster  that  would  follow  a  single  defeat  of  this 
army,"  although,  as  will  be  remembered,  when  that  army 
was  under  Pope,  and  engaged  in  a  battle  which  might 
destroy  it,  he  had  said  (Aug.  27),  "  I  think  we  should  first 
provide  for  the  defence  of  the  Capital."  General  Halleck 
replied  that  "the  capture  of  Washington  would  throw 
them  back  six  months,  if  not  destroy  them,"  and  that  Miles 
could  not  join  him  until  communications  were  opened. 
On  the  14th,  the  battle  of  South  Mountain  took  place,  the 
rebels  falling  back  to  the  Potomac  ;  and  on  the  17th  the 
battle  of  Antietam  was  fought,  resulting  in  the  defeat  of 
the  rebel  forces,  although  no  pursuit  was  made,  and  they 
were  allowed,  during  the  night  and  the  whole  of  the  next 
day,  quietly  to  withdraw  their  shattered  forces  to  the 
other  side  of  the  Potomac.  The  losses  he  had  sustained 
and  the  disorganization  of  some  of  his  commands  were 
assigned  by  General  McClellan  as  his  reason  for  not  renew 
ing  the  attack,  although  the  corps  of  General  Fitz-John 
Porter  had  not  been  brought  into  action  at  all.  Orders 
were  issued,  however,  for  a  renewal  of  the  battle  on  the 
19th,  but  it  was  then  suddenly  discovered  that  the  enemy 
was  on  the  other  side  of  the  Potomac.  General  McClellan 
did  not  feel  authorized  on  account  of  the  condition  of  Ma 


318  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

army  to  cross  in  pursuit,  and  on  the  23d  wrote  to  Wash- 
ington, asking  for  re-enforcements,  renewing  the  applica- 
tion on  the  27th,  and  stating  his  purpose  to  be  to  hold  the 
army  where  it  was,  and  to  attack  the  enemy  should  Tie. 
attempt  to  recross  into  Maryland.  He  thought  that  only 
the  troops  necessary  to  garrison  Washington  should  be 
retained  there,  and  that  every  thing  else  available  should 
be  sent  to  him.  If  re-enforced  and  allowed  to  take  his 
own  course,  he  said,  he  would  be  responsible  for  the 
safety  of  the  Capital. 

On  the  1st  of  OctoV  ,  President  Lincoln  visited  the 
army  and  made  careful  inquiry  into  its  strength  and  con- 
dition. On  the  6th,  he  issued  the  following  order  for  an 
immediate  advance : — 

Washington,  D.  0.,  October  6, 1862. 

I  am  instructed  to  telegraph  to  you  as  follows :  The  President  di  recti* 
that  you  cross  the  Potomac  and  give  battle  to  the  enemy,  or  drive  him 
south.  Your  army  must  move  now,  while  the  roads  are  good.  If  you 
cross  the  river  between  the  enemy  and  Washington,  and  cover  the  latter 
Dy  your  operation,  you  can  be  re-enforced  with  thirty  thou&and  men.  1/ 
you  move  up  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah  not  more  than  twelve  or  fit 
teen  thousand  can  be  sent  you.  The  President  advises  the  interior  line 
between  Washington  and  the  enemy,  but  does  not  order  it.  He  is  very 
desirous  that  your  army  move  as  soon  as  possible.  You  will  immediately 
report  what  line  you  adopt,  and  when  you  intend  to  cross  the  river :  also 
to  what  point  the  re-enforcements  are  to  be  sent.  It  is  necessary  that 
the  plan  of  your  operations  be  positively  determined  on,  before  orders 
are  given  for  building  bridges  and  repairing  railroads.  I  am  directed  to 
add,  that  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  General-in-Chief  fully  concur  with 
the  President  in  these  instructions. 

H.  W.  Halleok,  General-in-Chutf. 

Major-General  MoOlellan. 

On  receiving  this  order,  General  McClellan  inquired  as 
to  the  character  of  troops  that  would  be  sent  him,  and  as 
to  the  number  of  tents  at  command  of  the  army.  He  also 
called  for  very  large  quantities  of  shoes,  clothing,  and 
supplies,  and  said  that  without  these  the  army  could  not 
move.  On  the  11th,  the  rebel  General  Stuart,  with  a 
force  of  about  twenty  five  hundred  men,  made  a  raid  into 
Pennsylvania,  going  completely  round  our  armv,  and 

I  nam 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  319 

thwarting  all  the  arrangements  by  which  General  Mc- 
Clellan  had  reported  that  his  capture  was  certain.  On  the 
13th,  in  consequence  of  his  protracted  delays,  the  Presi- 
dent addressed  to  General  McClellan  the  following  letter : 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington,  October  18, 1P68. 

My  Dear  Sir: — You  remember  my  speaking  to  you  of  what  I  called 
your  over-cautiousness.  Are  you  not  over-cautious  when  you  assume  that 
you  cannot  do  what  the  enemy  is  constantly  doing?  Should  you  not 
claim  to  be  at  least  his  equal  in  prowess,  and  act  upon  the  claim  ? 

As  I  understand,  you  telegraphed  General  Halleck  that  you  cannot  sub- 
fist  your  army  at  Winchester  unless  the  railroad  from  Harper's  Ferry  to 
that  point  be  put  in  working  order.  But  the  enemy  does  now  subsist  his 
army  at  Winchester,  at  a  distance  nearly  twice  as  great  from  railroad 
transportation  as  you  would  have  to  do  without  the  railroad  last  named. 
He  now  wagons  from  Culpepper  Oourt-House,  which  is  just  about  twice 
as  far  as  you  would  have  to  do  from  Harper's  Ferry.  He  is  certainly  not 
more  than  half  as  well  provided  with  wagons  as  you  are.  I  certainly 
should  be  pleased  for  you  to  have  the  advantage  of  the  railroad  from 
Harper's  Ferry  to  Winchester;  but  it  wastes  all  the  remainder  of  autumn 
to  give  it  to  you,  and,  in  fact,  ignores  the  question  of  time,  which  cannot 
and  must  not  be  ignored. 

Again,  one  of  the  standard  maxims  of  war,  as  you  know,  is,  "  to  operate 
upon  the  enemy's  communications  as  much  as  possible,  without  exposing 
your  own."  You  seem  to  act  as  if  this  applies  against  you,  but  cannot 
apply  in  jour  favor.  Change  positions  with  the  enemy,  and  think  you 
not  he  would  break  your  communication  with  Richmond  within  the  next 
twenty-four  hours  ?  You  dread  his  going  into  Pennsylvania.  But  if  ho 
does  so  in  full  force,  he  gives  up  his  communications  to  you  absolutely, 
and  you  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  follow  and  ruin  him ;  if  he  does  so 
with  less  than  full  forr^  fall  upon  and  beat  what  is  left  behind  aL  the 
easier. 

Exclusive  of  the  water  line,  you  are  now  nearer  Richmond  than  the 
enemy  is,  by  the  route  that  you  can  and  he  must  take.  Why  can  you  not 
reach  there  before  him,  unless  yo'u  admit  that  he  is  more  than  your  equal 
on  a  march?  His  route  is  the  arc  of  a  circle,  while  yours  is  the  chord. 
The  roads  are  as  good  on  yours  as  on  his. 

You  know  I  desired,  but  did  not  order,  you  to  cross  the  Potomac  below 
instead  of  above  the  Shenandoah  and  Blue  Ridge.  My  idea  was,  that 
this  would  at  once  menace  the  enemy's  communications,  which  I  would 
seize  if  he  would  permit.  If  he  should  move  northward,  I  would  follow 
him  closely,  holding  his  communications.  If  he  should  prevent  our 
seizing  his  communications,  and  move  toward  Richmond,  I  would  press 
closely  to  him,  fight  him  if  a  favorable  opportunity  should  present^  and  at 
least  try  to  beat  him  to  Richmond  on  the  inside  track;    I  say  "try"  it 


320  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

we  never  try,  we  shall  never  succeed.  If  lie  make  a  stand  at  Winchester, 
moving  neither  north  nor  south,  I  would  fight  him  there,  on  the  idea  that 
if  we  cannot  beat  him  when  he  hears  the  wastage  of  coming  to  us,  we 
never  can  when  we  bear  the  wastage  of  going  to  him.  This  proposition 
is  a  simple  truth  and  is  too  important  to  be  lost  sight  of  for  a  moment. 
In  coining  to  us,  he  tenders  us  an  advantage  which  we  should  not  waive. 
We  should  not  so  operate  as  to  merely  drive  him  away.  As  we  must  beat 
him  somewhere,  or  fail  finally,  we  can  do  it,  if  at  all,  easier  near  to  u* 
than  far  away.  If  we  cannot  beat  the  enemy  where  he  now  is,  we  nevf  i 
can,  he  again  being  within  the  intrenchments  of  Richmond.  Recurring 
to  the  idea  of  going  to  Richmond  on  the  inside  track,  the  facility  of  sup- 
plying from  the  side  away  from  the  enemy  is  remarkable,  as  it  were,  by 
the  different  spokes  of  a  wheel,  extending  from  the  hub  towards  the  rim, 
and  this  whether  you  move  directly  by  the  chord,  or  on  the  inside  arc, 
hugging  the  Blue  Ridge  more  closely.  The  chord-line,  as  you  see,  carries 
you  by  Aldie,  Haymarket,  and  Fredericksburg,  and  you  see  how  turn- 
pikes, railroads,  and  finally  the  Potomac  by  Aquia  Creek,  meet  you  at 
all  points  from  Washington.  The  same,  only  the  lines  lengthened  a  little, 
if  you  press  closer  to  the  Blue  Ridge  part  of  the  way.  The  gaps  through 
the  Blue  Ridge  I  understand  to  be  about  the  following  distances  from 
Haiper's  Ferry,  to  wit:  Vestal's,  five  miles;  Gregory's,  thirteen;  Snick- 
er's, eighteen  ;  Ashby's,  twenty-eight ;  Manassas,  thirty-eight ;  Chester, 
forty-five;  and  Thornton's,  fifty -three.  I  should  think  it  preferable  to 
take  the  route  nearest  the  enemy,  disabling  him  to  make  an  important 
move  without  your  knowledge,  and  compelling  him  to  keep  his  forces 
together  for  dread  of  you.  The  gaps  would  enable  you  to  attack  if  you 
should  wish.  For  a  great  part  of  the  way  you  would  be  practically 
between  the  enemy  and  both  Washington  and  Richmond,  enabling  us  to 
spare  you  the  greatest  number  of  troops  from  here.  When,  at  length, 
running  to  Richmond  ahead  *f  him  enables  him  to  move  this  way,  if  he 
does  so,  turn  and  attack  him  in  the  rear.  But  I  think  he  should  be 
engaged  long  before  such  point  is  reached.  It  is  all  easy  if  our  troops 
Br  arch  as  well  as  the  enemy,  and  it  is  unmanly  to  say  they  cannot  do  it. 
This  letter  is  in  no  sense  an  order. 

Yours,  truly,  A.  Lincoln. 

Major- General  MoClkllan. 

For  over  a  fortnight  longer  General  McClellan  delayed 
any  attempt  to  move  Ms  army  in  obedience  to  the  Presi- 
dent' s  order.  He  spent  this  interval  in  complaints  of  inad- 
equate supplies,  and  in  incessant  demands  for  re-enforce- 
ments ;  and  on  the  21st  inquired  whether  it  was  still  the 
President's  wish  that  he  should  march  upon  the  enemy  at 
once,  or  await  the  arrival  of  fresh  horses.  He  was  told  in 
r»pjy  that  the  order  of  the  6th  was  unchanged,  and  tHi 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln*.  321 

tfliile  the  President  did  not  expect  impossibilities,  lie  was 
"  very  anxious  that  all  this  good  weather  should  not  be 
wasted  in  inactivity.' '  General  McClellan  states  in  his 
report  that  he  inferred,  from  the  tenor  of  this  dispatch, 
that  it  was  left  to  his  own  judgment  whether  it  would  be 
safe  for  the  army  to  advance  or  not ;  and  he  accordingly 
fixed  upon  the  first  of  November  as  the  earliest  date  at 
which  the  forward  movement  could  be  commenced.  On 
the  25th  he  complained  to  the  Department  of  the  con 
dition  of  his  cavalry,  saying  that  the  horses  were  fatigued 
and  greatly  troubled  with  sore  tongiie  ;  whereupon  the 
President  addressed  him  the  following  inquiry  : — 

"War  Department,  Washington,  October  25,  1862. 

I  have  just  read  your  dispatch  about  sore-tongue  and  fatigued  horses. 
Will  you  pardon  me  for  asking  what  the  horses  of  your  array  have  done 
since  the  battle  of  Antietam  that  fatigues  any  thing  ? 

A.  Lincoln. 

The  General  replied  that  they  had  been  engaged  in 
making  reconnoissances,  scouting,  and  picketing ;  to  which 
the  President  thus  rejoined  : — 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington,  October  26,  1862. 

Yours  in  reply  to  mine  about  horses  received.  Of  course  you  know  the 
facts  better  than  I.  Still,  two  considerations  remain :  Stuart's  cavalry 
outmarched  ours,  having  certainly  done  more  marked  service  on  the  Pen- 
insula and  everywhere  since.  Secondly :  will  not  a  movement  of  our 
army  be  a  relief  to  the  cavalry,  compelling  the  enemy  to  concentrate  in- 
stead of  "  foraging  "  in  squads  everywhere?  But  I  am  so  rejoiced  to  learn 
from  your  dispatch  to  General  Halleck  that  you  began  crossing  the  riv  ar 
this  morning.  A.  Lincoln. 

The  General  replied  in  a  long  dispatch,  rehearsing  in 
detail  the  labors  performed  by  his  cavalry,  to  which  he 
thought  the  President  had  done  injustice.  This  note  eli- 
cited the  following  reply  : — 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington,  October  26,  1862. 
Yours  of  yesterday  received.  Most  certainly  I  intend  no  injustice  to 
any,  and  if  I  have  done  any  I  deeply  regret  it.  To  be  told,  after  more 
than  five  weeks'  total  inaction  of  the  army,  and  during  which  period  we 
had  sent  to  that  army  every  fresh  horse  we  possibly  could,  amounting  in 
lie  whole  to  seven  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighteen,  that  the  cavalry 
21 


322  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

horses  were  too  much  fatigued  to  move,  presented  a  very  cheerless,  almost 
hopeless,  prospect  for  the  future,  and  it  may  have  forced  something  of 
impatience  into  my  dispatches.  If  not  recruited  and  rested  then,  when 
could  they  ever  be  ?  I  suppose  the  river  is  rising,  and  I  am  glad  to  believe 
you  are  crossing.  A.  Lincoln. 

The  General  next  started,  as  a  new  topic  of  discussion, 
the  extent  to  which  the  line  of  the  Potomac  should  be 
guarded  after  he  left  it,  so  as  to  cover  Maryland  and  Penn- 
sylvania from  further  invasions.  He  thought  strong  gar- 
risons should  be  left  at  certain  points,  complained  that  his 
forces  were  inadequate,  and  made  some  suggestion  con- 
cerning the  position  of  the  rebel  army  under  Bragg,  which 
led  General  Halleck  in  reply  to  remind  him  that  Bragg 
was  four  hundred  miles  away,  while  Lee  was  but  twenty. 
On  the  27th  the  General  telegraphed  to  the  President  that 
it  was  necessary  to  "  fill  up  the  old  regiments  of  his  com- 
mand before  taking  them  again  into  action,5'  to  wliich  the 
President  thus  replied  : — 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington,  October  27,  1862, 
Your  dispatch  of  three  p.  m.  to-day,  in  regard  to  filling  up  old  regiment* 
with  drafted  men,  is  received,  and  the  request  therein  shall  be  complied 
with  as  far  as  practicable.  And  now  I  ask  a  distinct  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion, **  Is  it  your  purpose  not  to  go  into  action  again  till  the  men  no^  being 
drafted  in  the  States  are  incorporated  in  the  old  regiments?" 

A,  LlN0OI<N. 

The  General,  in  reply,  explained  that  the  language  of 
the  dispatch,  which  was  prepared  by  one  of  his  aids,  had 
incorrectly  expressed  his  meaning,  and  that  he  should  not 
postpone  the  advance  until  the  regiments  were  filled  by 
drafted  men.  The  army  was  gradually  crossed  over,  and 
on  the  5th  of  November  the  General  announced  to  the 
President  that  it  was  all  on  the  Virginia  side.  This  was 
just  a  month  after  the  order  to  cross  had  been  given — the 
enemy  meantime  having  taken  possession  of  all  the  strong 
points,  and  falling  back,  at  his  leisure,  towards  his  base 
of  operations.  These  unaccountable  delays  in  the  move- 
ment of  the  army  created  the  most  intense  dissatisfaction 
in  the  public  mind,  and  completely  exhausted  the  patience 
of  the  Government.     Accordingly,  on  the  5th  of  J^ovem- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  323 

ber,  an  order  was  issued  relieving  General  McClellan  from 
the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  directing 
General  Burnside  to  take  his  place. 


Thus  closed  a  most  remarkable  chapter  in  the  history  of 
the  war.     For  over  fifteen  months  General  McClellan  had 
commanded  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  the  largest  and  most 
powerful  army  ever  marshalled  till  then  upon  this  con* 
fftent — consisting  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
i  n,  and  furnished,  in  lavish  profusion,  with  everything 
requisite  for  effective  service.     Throughout  the  whole  of 
this  long  period  that  army  had  been  restrained  by  its  com- 
mander from  attacking  the  enemy.  Except  in  the  single 
instance  of  Antietam,  where,  moreover,  there  was  no  pos- 
sibility of  avoiding  an  engagement,  every  battle  which  it 
fought  was  on  the  defensive.     According  to  the  sworn 
testimony  of  his  own  commanders,  General  McClellan 
might  have  overwhelmed  the  rebel  forces  arrayed  against 
him  at  Manassas,  at  Yorktown,  after  Williamsburg,  Fair 
Oaks,  Malvern  Hill,  and  Antietam ;  but  on  every  one  of 
these  occasions  he  carefully  forbore  to  avail  himself  of  the 
superiority  of  his  position,  and  gave  the  enemy  ample 
time  to  prepare  for  more  complete  and  effective  resistance. 
It  is  no  part  of  our  present  purpose  to  inquire  into  the 
causes  of  this  most  extraordinary  conduct  on  the  part  of 
a  commander  to  whom,  more  completely  than  to  any  other, 
were  intrusted  the  destinies  of  the  Nation  during  one 
of  the  most  critical  periods.     Whether  he  acted  from 
an  innate  disability,  or  upon  a  political  theory — whether 
lie  intentionally  avoided  a  decisive  engagement  in  order 
to  accomplish  certain  political  results  which  he  and  his 
secret  advisers  deemed  desirable,  or  whether  he  was,  by 
the  native  constitution  of  his  mind,  unable  to  meet  the 
gigantic  responsibilities  of  his  position  when  the  critical 
moment  of  trial  arrived,  are  points  which  the  public  and 
posterity  will  decide  from  an  unbiased  study  of  the  evi- 
dence which  his  acts  and  his  words  afford.     As  the  record 
we  have  given  shows,  President  Lincoln  lost  no  oppor- 
tunity of  urging  upon  him  more  prompt  and  decisive 


324  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

action,  while  in  no  instance  did  lie  "withhold  from  him  any 
aid  which  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  Government  to  give. 
Nothing  can  show  more  clearly  the  disposition  of  the 
President  to  sustain  him  to  the  utmost,  and  to  protect  him 
from  the  rapidly  -ising  tide  of  public  censure  and  discon- 
tent with  his  ruinous  and  inexplicable  delays,  than  the 
following  remarks  made  by  him  at  a  war  meeting  held  at 
Washington  on  the  6th  of  August,  after  the  retreat  to  the 
James  River,  and  just  before  the  withdrawal  of  the  armj 
from  the  Peninsula  : — 

Fellow-Citizens  : — I  believe  there  is  no  precedent  for  my  appearing 
before  yon  on  this  occasion,  but  it  is  also  true  that  there  is  no  precedent 
for  your  being  here  yourselves,  and  I  offer,  in  justification  of  myself  and 
of  you,  that,  upon  examination,  I  have  found  nothing  in  the  Constitution 
against  it.  I,  however,  have  an  impression  that  there  are  younger  gentle- 
men who  will  entertain  you  better,  and  better  address  your  understanding 
than  I  will  or  could,  and  therefore  I  propose  but  to  detain  you  a  moment 
longer. 

I  am  very  little  inclined  on  any  occasion  to  say  anything  unless  I  hope 
to  produce  some  good  by  it.  The  only  thing  I  think  of  just  now  not 
likely  to  be  better  said  by  some  one  else,  is  a  ina-tter  in  which  we  have 
heard  some  other  persons  blamed  for  what  I  did  myself.  There  has  been 
a  very  wide-spread  attempt  to  have  a  quarrel  between  General  McClellan 
and  the  Secretary  of  War.  Now,  I  occupy  a  position  that  enables  me  to 
observe,  that  these  two  gentlemen  are  not  nearly  so  deep  in  the  quarrel  as 
some  pretending  to  be  their  friends.  General  McClellan's  attitude  is  such 
that,  in  the  very  selfishness  of  his  nature,  he  cannot  but  wish  to  be  suc- 
cessful, and  I  hope  he  will — and  the  Secretary  of  War  is  in  precisely  the 
same  situation.  If  the  military  commanders  in  the  field  cannot  be  success- 
ful, not  only  the  Secretary  of  War,  but  myself,  for  the  time  being  the 
master  of  them  both,  cannot  but  be  failures.  I  know  General  McClellan 
wishes  to  be  successful,  and  I  know  he  does  not  wish  it  any  more  than  1 1 
Secretary  of  War  for  him,  and  both  of  them  together  no  moio  than  i  \vi 
it.  Sometimes  we  have  a  dispute  about  how  many  men  General  MeCK  i 
Ian  has  had,  and  those  who  would  disparage  him  say  that  he  has  had  a 
very  large  number,  and  those  who  would  disparage  the  Secretary  of  A\  sir 
insist  that  General  McClellan  has  had  a  very  small  number.  The  basis 
for  this  is,  there  is  always  a  wide  difference,  and  on  this  occasion,  perhaps 
a  wider  one  than  usual,  between  the  grand  total  on  McClellan's  rolls  and 
the  men  actually  fit  for  duty ;  and  those  who  would  disparage  him  talk  of  the 
grand  total  on  paper,  and  those  who  would  disparage  the  Secretary  of  War 
talk  of  those  ai  present  fit  for  di  ty.  General  McClellan  has  sometimes 
asked  for  things  that  the  Secretary  of  War  did  not  give  him.     General 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  325 

McOlellan  is  not  to  blame  for  asking  what  he  wanted  and  needed,  and  the 
Secretary  of  War  is  not  to  "blame  for  not  giving  when  he  had  none  to  give. 
And  I  say  here,  as  far  as  I  know,  the  Secretary  of  War  has  withheld  no 
one  thing  at  any  time  in  my  power  to  give  him.  I  have  no  accusation 
against  him.  I  believe  he  is  a  brave  and  able  man,  and  I  stand  here  as 
justice  requires  me  to  do,  to  take  upon  myself  what  has  been  charged  on 
the  Secretary  of  War,  as  withholding  from  him. 

I  have  talked  longer  than  I  expected  to  do.  and  now  I  avail  myself  of 
my  privilege  of  sayii\g  no  more. 


326  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 


CHAPTER  X. 

GENERAL  CONDUCT  OP  THE  ADMINISTRATION  IN   18eS 

SUCCESSES    IN    THE    SOUTHWEST. — RECOGNIZED    0bJE0T8    OF    THE    WaB>  -« 

Relations  op  the  War  to  Slavery. — Our  Foreign  Relations. — 
Proposed  Mediation  of  the  French  Emperor. — Reply  to  the 
French  Proposal. — Secretary  Seward's  Dispatch. — The  Presi- 
dent's Letter  to  Fernando  Wood. — Observance  of  the  Sabbath 

In  every  other  section  of  the  country,  except  in  East- 
ern Virginia,  the  military  operations  of  the  year  1862 
were  marked  by  promptitude  and  vigor,  and  attended  by 
success  to  the  National  arms.  Early  in  February,  a  lodg- 
ment had  been  effected  by  the  expedition  under  General 
Burnside  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina ;  and,  on  the 
19th  of  January,  the  victory  of  Mill  Springs  had  released 
Western  Kentucky  from  rebel  rule,  and  opened  a  path 
for  the  armies  of  the  Union  into  East  Tennessee.  The 
President's  order  of  January  27th,  for  an  advance  of  all 
the  forces  of  the  Government  on  the  22d  of  February,  had 
been  promptly  followed  by  the  capture  of  Forts  Henry 
and  Donelson  on  the  Cumberland  and  Tennessee  Rivers, 
which  led  to  the  evacuation  of  Bowling  Green,  the  surren-J 
der  of  Nashville,  and  the  fall  of  Columbus,  the  rebel  strong- 
hold on  the  Mississippi.  Fort  Pulaski,  which  guarded  the 
entrance  to  Savannah,  was  taken,  after  eighteen  hours' 
bombardment,  on  the  12th  of  April,  and  the  whole  west 
coast  of  Florida  had  been  occupied  by  our  forces.  By 
the  skilful  strategy  of  General  Halleck,  commanding  the 
Western  Department,  seconded  by  the  vigorous  activity 
of  General  Curtis,  the  rebel  commander  in  Missouri,  Gem 
eral  Price,  had  been  forced  to  retreat,  leaving  the  whole 
of  that  State  in  our  hands ;  and  he  was  badly  beaten  in  a 
subsequent  engagement  at  Sugar  Creek  in  Arkansas.  On 
the  14th,  Island  No.  10,  commanding  the  passage  of  the 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  3 'J  7 

Mississippi,  was  taken  by  General  Pope ;  and,  01  the 
4th  of  June,  Forts  Pillow  and  Randolph,  still  lower 
down,  were  occupied  by  our  forces.  On  the  6th,  the 
city  of  Memphis  was  surrendered  by  the  rebels.  Soon 
after  the  fall  of  Nashville,  a  formidable  expedition  had 
ascended  the  Tennessee  River,  and,  being  joined  by  all 
the  available  Union  forces  in  that  vicinity,  the  whole, 
under  command  of  General  Halleck,  prepared  to  give 
battle  to  the  rebel  army,  which,  swelled  by  large  re- 
enforcements  from  every  quarter,  was  posted  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Corinth,  ninety  miles  east  of  Memphis,  intending 
by  a  sudden  attack  to  break  the  force  of  the  Union  army, 
which  was  sweeping  steadily  down  upon  them  from  the 
field  of  its  recent  conquests.  The  rebels  opened  the 
attack  with  great  fury  and  effect,  on  the  morning  of  the 
6th  of  April,  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  three  miles  in  ad- 
vance of  Corinth.  The  fight  lasted  nearly  all  day,  the 
rebels  having  decidedly  the  advantage ;  but  in  their  final 
onset  they  were  driven  back,  and  the  next  day  our  army, 
strengthened  by  the  opportune  arrival  of  General  Buell, 
completed  what  proved  to  be  a  signal  and  most  im- 
portant victory.  When  news  of  it  reached  Washing 
ton,  President  Lincoln  issued  the  following  proclama 
tion : — 

It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  vouchsafe  signal  victories  to  the  land 
and  naval  forces  engaged  in  suppressing  an  internal  rebellion,  and  at  the 
*amo  time  to  avert  from  our  country  the  dangers  of  foreign  intervention 
ind  invasion. 

It  is  therefore  recommended  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  that  at 
,  t-ir  next  weekly  assemblages  in  their  accustomed  places  of  public  wor- 
'  .lp  which  shall  occur  after  the  notice  of  this  Proclamation  shall  hav* 
been  received,  they  especially  acknowledge  and  render  thanks  to  our 
Heavenly  Father  for  these  inestimable  blessings ;  that  they  then  and  then? 
implore  spiritual  consolation  in  behalf  of  all  those  who  have  been  brought 
into  affliction  by  the  casualties  and  calamities  of  sedition  and  civil  war; 
and  that  they  reverently  invoke  the  Divine  guidance  for  our  national 
counsels,  to  the  end  that  they  may  speedily  result  in  the  restoration  of 
peace,  harmony,  and  unity  throughout  our  borders,  and  hasten  the  estab- 
lishment of  fraternal  relations  among  all  the  countries  of  the  earth. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the  seal 
sf  the  TjLited  States  to  be  affixed. 


328  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  tenth  vlay  of  April,  in  th« 
[l.  ».]    year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty -two, 
and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-sixth. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 
By  the  President : 

Wm.  H.  Sewabd,  Secretary  of  State. 

On  the  28th  of  May  the  rebels  evacuated  Corinth,  and 
were  pushed  southward  by  our  pursuing  forces  for  some 
twenty -five  or  thirty  miles.  General  Mitchell,  by  a 
daring  and  most  gallant  enterprise  in  the  latter  part  of 
April,  took  possession  of  Huntsville  in  Alabama.  Li 
February  a  formidable  naval  expedition  had  been  fitted 
out  under  Commodore  Farragut  for  the  capture  of  New 
Orleans ;  and  on  the  18th  of  April  the  attack  commenced 
upon  Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  by  which  the  passage 
of  the  Mississippi  below  the  city  is  guarded.  After  six 
days'  bombardment,  the  whole  fleet  passed  the  forts  on 
the  night  of  the  23d,  under  a  terrible  fire  from  both  ;  and 
on  the  25th  the  rebel  General  Lovell,  who  had  command 
of  the  military  defences  of  the  city,  withdrew,  and  Com- 
modore Farragut  took  possession  of  the  town,  which  he 
retained  until  the  arrival  of  General  Butler  on  the  1st  of 
May,  who  thereupon  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his 
duties  as  commander  of  that  Department. 

During  the  summer,  a  powerful  rebel  army,  undei 
General  Bragg,  invaded  Kentucky  for  the  double  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  supplies  and  affording  a  rallying  point 
for  what  they  believed  to  be  the  secession  sentiment  of 
the  State.  In  the  accomplishment  of  the  former  object, 
they  were  successful,  but  not  in  the  latter.  They  lost 
more  while  in  the  State  from  desertions  than  they  gained 
by  recruits ;  and  after  a  battle  at  Perry  ville,  on  the  7th 
of  October,  they  began  their  retreat.  On  the  5th  of  Oc- 
tober a  severe  battle  was  fought  at  Corinth,  from  which  a 
powerful  rebel  army  attempted  to  drive  our  troops  under 
General  Rosecrans,  but  they  were  repulsed  with  very 
heavy  losses,  and  the  campaign  in  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee was  virtually  at  an  end.  A  final  effort  of  the 
enemy  in  that  region  led  to  a  severe  engagement  at  Mur- 


State  Papers  of  Abuaiiam  Lincoln.  320 

freesboro'  on  the  31st  of  December,  which  resulted  in 
the  defeat  of  the  rebel  forces,  and  in  relieving  Tennessee 
from  the  presence  of  the  rebel  armies. 

In  all  the  military  operations  of  this  year,  especial  care 
had  been  taken  by  the  generals  in  command  of  the  several 
departments,  acting  under  the  general  direction  of  the 
Government,  to  cause  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that 
the  object  of  the  war  was  the  preservation  of  the  Union 
and  the  restoration  of  the  authority  of  the  Constitution. 
The  rebel  authorities,  both  civil  and  military,  lost  na 
opportunity  of  exciting  the  fears  and  resentments  of  the 
people  of  the  Southern  States,  by  ascribing  to  the  Nation- 
al Government  designs  of  the  most  ruthless  and  implaca- 
ble hostility  to  their  institutions  and  their  persons.  It 
was  strenuously  represented  that  the  object  of  the  war 
was  to  rob  the  Southern  people  of  their  rights  and  their 
property,  and  especially  to  set  free  their  slaves.  The 
Government  did  every  thing  in  its  power  to  allay  the 
apprehensions  and  hostilities  which  these  statements  were 
calculated  to  produce.  General  Garfield,  while  in  Ken- 
tucky, just  before  the  victory  of  Mill  Springs,  issued  on 
the  16th  of  January  an  address  to  the  citizens  of  that 
section  of  the  State,  exhorting  them  to  return  to  their 
allegiance  to  the  Federal  Government,  which  had  never 
made  itself  injuriously  felt  by  any  one  among  them,  and 
promising  them  full  protection  for  their  persons  and  their 
>roperty,  and  full  reparation  for  any  wrongs  they  might 
lave  sustained.  After  the  battle  of  Mill  Springs,  the 
Secretary  of  War,  under  the  direction  of  the  President, 
issued  an  order  of  thanks  to  the  soldiers  engaged  in  it,  in 
which  he  again  announced' that  the  "  purpose  of  the  war 
was  to  attack,  pursue,  and  destroy  a  rebellious  enemy, 
and  to  deliver  the  country  from  danger  menaced  by 
traitors.''  On  the  20th  of  November,  1861,  General 
Halleck,  commanding  the  Department  of  the  Missouri,  on 
the  eve  of  the  advance  into  Tennessee,  issued  an  order 
enjoining  upon  the  troops  the  necessity  of  discipline  and 
of  order,  and  calling  on  them  to  prove  by  their  acts  that 
they  came  "to restore,  not  to  violate  the  Constitution  and 


330  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

the  laws,"  and  that  the  people  of  the  South  under  the 
flag  of  the  Union  should  "  enjoy  the  same  protection  of 
life  and  property  as  in  fcrmer  days."  "  It  does  not 
belong  to  the  military,"  said  this  order,  "to  decide  upon 
the  relation  of  master  and  slave.  Such  questions  must  be 
settled  by  the  civil  courts.  ~No  fugitive  slave  will,  there- 
fore, be  admitted  within  our  lines  or  camps  except  wLen 
specially  ordered  by  the  General  commanding."*  So 
also  General  Burnside,  when  about  to  land  on  the  soil  of 
North  Carolina,  issued  an  order,  February  3d,  1862,  call- 
ing upon  the  soldiers  of  his  army  to  remember  that  they 
were  there  "to  support  the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  to 
put  down  rebellion,  and  to  protect  the  persons  and  prop- 
erty of  the  loyal  and  peaceable  citizens  of  the  State." 
And  on  the  18th  of  the  same  month,  after  Fort  Henry  and 
.Roanoke  Island  had  fallen  into  our  hands,  Commodore 
Goldsborough  and  General  Burnside  issued  a  joint  proc 
tarnation,  denouncing  as  false  and  slanderous  the  attempt 
of  the  rebel  leaders  to  impose  on  the  credulity  of  the 
Southern  people  by  telling  them  of  "our  desire  to  de- 
stroy their  freedom,  demolish  their  property,  and  liberate 
their  slaves,"  and  declaring  that  the  Government  asked 
only  that  its  authority  might  be  recognized,  and  that  "in 
no  way  or  manner  did  it  desire  to  interfere  with  their 
laws,  constitutionally  established,  their  institutions  of  any 
kind  whatever,  their  property  of  any  sort,  or  their  usages 
in  any  respect."  And,  on  the  1st  of  March,  Gener 
Curtis,  in  Arkansas,  had  addressed  a  proclamation  to  Ui 

*  In  regard  to  this  order,  which  was  afterwards  severely  criticised  in  Congress, 
General  Halleck  wrote  the  following  letter  of  explanation : — 

Hkad-Quaeters  Department  of  tob  Missouri,  » 
St.  Louis,  December  8, 1S61.  \ 

My  Dear  Colonel  :— -Yours  of  the  4th  instant  is  just  received.  Order  No.  3  was,  in  my  mind, 
elearly  a  military  necessity.  Unauthorized  persons,  black  or  white,  free  or  slaves,  must  he  kept 
uut  of  our  camps,  unless  we  are  willing  to  publish  to  the  enemy  every  thing  we  do  or  intend  to 
do.    It  was  a  military  and  not  a  political  order. 

I  am  ready  to  carry  out  any  lawful  instructions  in  regard  to  fugitive  slaves  which  my  supe 
fiors  may  give  me,  and  to  enforce  any  law  which  Congress  may  pass.  But  I  caunot  make  law, 
and  will  not  violate  it  Tou  know  my  private  opinion  on  the  policy  of  confiscating  the  slave 
property  of  the  rebels  in  arms.  If  Congress  shall  pass  it,  you  may  be  certain  that  I  shall  enforce 
it  Perhaps  my  policy  as  to  the  treatment  of  rebels  and  their  property  is  as  well  set  out  In  Or 
iir  No.  IS,  issued  the  day  your  letter  was  written,  as  I  could  now  dee.  ribe  it 

Hon.  P.  P.  Blaie,  WashiDgtoa. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  331 

people  of  that  State,  denouncing  as  false  and  calumnious 
the  statements  widely  circulated  of  the  designs  and  sen- 
timents of  the  Union  armies,  and  declaring  that  they 
sought  only  "to  put  down  rebellion  by  making  war 
against  those  in  arms,  their  aiders  and  abettors" — and 
that  they  came  to  "vindicate  the  Constitution,  and  to 
preserve  and  perpetuate  civil  and  religious  liberty  under 
a  Hag  that  was  embalmed  in  the  blood  of  our  Revolution- 
ary fathers."  In  all  this  the  Government  adhered,  with 
just  and  rigorous  fidelity,  to  the  principles  it  had  adopt- 
ed for  its  conduct  at  the  outset  of  the  war ;  and  in  its 
anxiety  to  avoid  all  cause  of  complaint  and  all  appear- 
ance of  justification  for  those  who  were  in  arms  against  its 
authority,  it  incurred  the  distrust  and  even  the  denuncia- 
tion of  the  more  zealous  and  vehement  among  its  own 
friends  and  supporters  in  the  Northern  States. 

On  the  22d  of  July,  in  order  to  secure  unity  of  action 
among  the  commanders  of  the  several  military  departments, 
upon  the  general  use  to  be  made  of  rebel  property,  the 
President  directed  the  issue  of  the  following  order : — 

War  Department,  Washington,  July  22,  1862. 

First.  Ordered  that  military  commanders  within  the  States  of  Virginia, 
Norch  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas, 
and  Arkansas,  in  an  orderly  manner  seize  and  use  any  property,  real  or 
personal,  which  may  be  necessary  or  convenient  for  their  several  com- 
mands, for  supplies,  or  for  other  military  purposes ;  and  that  while  prop- 
erty may  be  destroyed  for  proper  military  objects,  none  shall  be  destroyed; 
in  wantonness  or  malice. 

Second.  That  military  and  naval  commanders  shall  employ  as  laborers, 
within  and  from  said  States,  so  many  persons  of  African  descent  as  can 
be  advantageously  used  for  military  or  naval  purposes,  giving  them  reason- 
able wages  for  their  labor. 

Third.  That,  as  to  both  property,  and  persons  of  African  descent, 
accounts  shall  be  kept  sufficiently  accurate  and  in  detail  to  show  quan- 
tities and  amounts,  and  from  whom  both  property  and  such  persons  shall 
have  come,  as  a  basis  upon  which  compensation  can  be  made  in  proper 
cases;  and  the  several  departments  of  this  Government  shall  attend  to  and 
perform  their  appropriate  parts  towards  the  execution  of  these  orders. 

By  order  of  the  President : 

Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War, 

And  on  the  25th  of  July  he  issued  the  following  procla- 


332  Tin:  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

mation,  warning  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  against 
persisting  in  their  rebellion,  under  the  j)enalties  prescribed 
by  the  confiscation  act  passed  by  Congress  at  its  preceding 
session : — 

By  order  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

j  A   PROCLAMATION. 

In  pursuance  of  the  sixth  section  of  the  Act  of  Congress,  entitled  "An 
Act  to  suppress  insurrection,  to  punish  treason  and  rebellion,  to  seize  and 
confiscate  the  property  of  rebels,  and  for  other  purposes,"  approved  July 
17th,  1862,  and  which  Act,  and  the  joint  resolution  explanatory  thereof, 
are  herewith  published,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  do  hereby  proclaim  to  and  warn  all  persons  within  the  contem- 
plation of  said  sixth  section  to  cease  participating  in,  aiding,  countenan- 
cing, or  abetting  the  existing  rebellion,  or  any  rebellion,  against  the  Gov- 
.  ernment  of  the  United  States,  and  to  return  to  their  proper  allegiance  to 
the  United  States,  on  pain  of  the  forfeiture  and  seizures  as  within  and 
by  said  sixth  section  provided. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the  seal 
of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  twenty-fifth  day  of  July,  in  the 

r  8]  year  °f  our  ^ord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two, 
and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-seventh. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 
By  the  President : 

William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State. 

Our  relations  with  foreign  nations  during  the  year  1862 
continued  to  be  in  the  main  satisfactory.  The  President 
held  throughout,  in  all  his  intercourse  with  European 
powers,  the  same  firm  and  decided  language  in  regard  to 
the  rebellion  which  had  characterized  the  correspondence 
of  the  previous  year.  Our  Minister  in  London,  with  vigi- 
lance and  ability,  pressed  upon  the  British  Government 
the  duty  of  preventing  the  rebel  authorities  from  building 
and  fitting  out  vessels  of  war  in  English  ports  to  prey 
upon  the  commerce  of  the  United  States;  but  in  every 
instance  these  remonstrances  were  without  practical  effect. 
The  Government  could  never  be  convinced  that  the  evi- 
dence in  any  specific  case  was  sufficient  to  warrant  its 
interference,  and  thus  one  vessel  after  another  was  allowed 
to  leave  British  ports,  go  to  some  other  equally  neutral 


State  Papers  of  Aiuiaham   Lincoln.  333 

locality  and  take  on  board  munitions  of  war,  and  enter 
upon  its  career  of  piracy  in  the  rebel  service.  As  early 
as  the  18th  of  February,  1862,  Mr.  Adams  had  called  the 
attention  of  Earl  Russell  to  the  fact  that  a  steam  gunboat, 
afterwards  called  the  Oreto,  was  being  built  in  a  Liverpool 
ship-yard,  under  the  supervision  of  well-known  agents 
t  >i  aio  rebel  Government,  and  evidently  intended  for  the 
rebel  service.  The  Foreign  Secretary  replied  that  the 
vessel  was  intended  for  the  use  of  parties  in  Palermr 
Sicily,  and  that  there  was  no  reason  to  suppose  she  w 
intended  for  any  service  hostile  to  the  United  States.  Mr. 
Adams  sent  evidence  to  show  that  the  claim  of  being 
designed  for  service  in  Sicily  was  a  mere  pretext;  but 
he  failed,  by  this  dispatch,  as  in  a  subsequent  personal 
conference  with  Earl  Russell  on  the  15th  of  April,  to  in- 
duce him  to  take  any  steps  for  her  detention.  She  sailed 
soon  after,  and  was  next  heard  of  at  the  British  "  neutral" 
port  of  Nassau,  where  she  was  seized  by  the  authorities 
ai  the  instance  of  the  American  consul,  but  released  by 
the  same  authorities  on  the  arrival  of  Captain  Semmes  to 
take  command  of  her  as  a  Confederate  privateer.  In  Oc- 
tober an  intercepted  letter  was  sent  to  Earl  Russell  by 
Mr.  Adams,  written  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  of  the 
Confederate  Government,  to  a  person  in  England,  com- 
plaining that  he  had  not  followed  the  Oreto  on  her  de- 
parture from  England  and  taken  command  of  her,  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  original  appointment.  In  June,  Mr. 
Adams  called  Earl  Russell's  attention  to  another  power- 
ful war  steamer,  then  in  progress  of  construction  in  the 
shij  yard  of  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  evi- 
dently intended  for  the  rebel  service.  This  complaint 
went  through  the  usual  formalities,  was  referred  to  the 
"  Lords  Commissioners  of  her  Majesty's  Treasury,"  who 
reported  in  due  time  that  they  could  discover  no  evidence 
sufficient  to  warrant  the  detention  of  the  vessel.  Soon 
afterwards,  however,  evidence  was  produced  which  was 
sufficient  to  warrant  the  collector  of  the  port  of  Liverpool 
in  ordering  her  detention  ;  but  before  the  necessary  for- 
malities could  be  gone  through  with,  and  through  delays 


354  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

caiis-'d,  as  Earl   Russell  afterwards  explained,  "by  tlie 
"sudden  development  of  a  malady  of  the  Queen's  ad 
vocate,  totally   incapacitating  him  for  the   transaction  of 
business,"  the  vessel,  whose  managers  were  duly  adver- 
tised of  every  thing  that  was  going  on,  slipped  out  of  port 
took  on  board  an  armament  in  the  Azores,  and  entere< 
the  rebel  service  as  a  privateer.    Our  Government  su 
sequently  notified  the  British  Government  that  it  would 
ty»  held  responsible  for  all  the  damage  which  this  vessel, 
iiown  first  as  "290,"  and  afterwards  as  the  Alabama, 
might  infiict  on  American  commerce. 

Discussions  were  had  upon  the  refusal  of  the  British 
authorities  to  permit  American  vessels  of  war  to  take  in 
coal  at  Nassau,  upon  the  systematic  attempts  of  British 
merchants  to  violate  our  blockade  of  Southern  ports,  and 
upon  the  recapture,  by  the  crew,  of  the  Emily  St.  Pierre, 
which  had  been  seized  in  attempting  to  run  the  blockade 
at  Charleston,  and  was  on  her  way  as  a  prize  to  the  poi 
of  New  York.  The  British  Government  vindicated  hei 
rescue  as  sanctioned  by  the  principles  of  international  law. 

The  only  incident  of  special  importance  which  occurred 
during  the  year  in  our  foreign  relations,  grew  out  of  sax 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French  to  secure 
a  joint  effort  at  mediation  between  the  Government  of  the, 
United  States  and  the  rebel  authorities,  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain  and  Russia  in  connection  with  his  own 
Government.  Rumors  of  such  an  intention  on  the  part 
of  the  Emperor  led  Mr.  Dayton  to  seek  an  interview  with 
Hie  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  on  the  6th  of  November, 
t  which  indications  of  such  a  purpose  were  apparent, 
i-'he  attempt  failed,  as  both  the  other  powers  consulted 
declined  to  join  in  any  such  action.  The  French  Govern- 
ment thereupon  determined  to  take  action  alone,  and  on 
the  9th  of  January,  1863,  the  Foreign  Secretary  wrote  to 
the  French  Minister  at  Washington  a  dispatch,  declaring 
the  readiness  of  the  French  Emperor  to  do  any  thing  in 
his  power  which  might  tend  towards  the  termination  of 
the  war,  and  suggesting  that  "  nothing  would  hinder  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  without  renouncing  the 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.         335 

advantages  which,  it  believes  it  can  attain  by  a  continua- 
tion of  the  war,  from  entering  upon  informal  conferences 
with  the  Confederates  of  the  South,  in  case  they  should 
show  themselves  disposed  thereto. "  The  specific  advan- 
tages of  such  a  conference,  and  the  mode  in  which  it  was 
to  be  brought  about,  were  thus  set  forth  in  this  dispatch  :— 

Representatives  or  commissioners  of  the  two  parties  could  assemble  h 
tach  point  as  it  should  be  deemed  proper  to  designate,  and  which  could, 
for  this  purpose,  be  declared  neutral.  Reciprocal  complaints  could  be 
examined  into  at  this  meeting.  In  place  of  the  accusations  which  North 
and  South  mutually  cast  upon  each  other  at  this  time,  would  be  substituted 
an  argumentative  discussion  of  the  interests  which  divide  them.  They 
would  seek  out  by  means  of  well-ordered  and  profound  deliberations 
whether  these  interests  are  definitively  irreconcilable — whether  separation 
is  an  extreme  which  can  no  longer  be  avoided,  or  whether  the  memories 
of  a  common  existence,  whether  the  ties  of  any  kind  which  have  made  of 
the  North  and  of  the  South  one  sole  and  whole  Federative  State,  and  have 
borne  them  on  to  so  high  a  degree  of  prosperity,  are  not  more  powerful 
than  the  causes  which  have  placed  arms  in  the  hands  of  the  two  popula- 
tions. A  negotiation,  the  object  of  which  would  be  thus  determinate, 
would  not  involve  any  of  the  objections  raised  against  the  diplomatic  in- 
terventions of  Europe,  and,  without  giving  birth  to  the  same  hopes  as  th<* 
immediate  conclusion  of  an  armistice,  would  exercise  a  happy  influence 
on  the  march  of  events. 

Wbf,  therefore,  should  not  a  combination  which  respects  all  the  rela- 
tions of  the  United  States  obtain  the  approbation  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment? Persuaded  on  our  part  that  it  is  in  conformity  with  their  true 
interests,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  recommend  it  to  their  attention ;  and,  not 
having  sought  in  the  project  of  a  mediation  of  the  maritime  powers  of 
Europe  any  vain  display  of  influence,  we  would  applaud,  with  entire  free- 
dom f-om  all  susceptibility  of  self-esteem,  the  opening  of  a  negotiatioi 
which  would  invite  the  two  populations  to  discuss,  without  the  co-opera- 
tiuE  of  Europe,  the  solution  of  their  differences. 

The  reply  which  the  President  directed  to  be  made  to 
this  proposition  embraces  so  many  points  of  permanent 
interest  and  importance  in  connection  with  his  Adminis- 
tration, that  we  give  it  in  full.     It  was  as  follows : — 

Department  of  State,  Washington,  February  6,  1863L 

Sir:-— The  intimation  given  in  your  dispatch  of  January  15th,  that  1 
might  expect  a  special  visit  from  M.  Mercier,  lias  been  realized.  He  called 
on  the  3d  instant,  and  gave  me  a  copy  of  a  dispatch  whicn  he  had  just  theo 
received  from  M.  Drouyn  de  Tlluys  under  the  date  of  the  9th  of  January. 


336  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

I  have  taken  the  President's  instructions,  and  I  now  proceed  to  give 
yon  his  views  upon  the  subject  in  question. 

It  has  been  considered  with  seriousness,  resulting  from  the  reflection 
that  the  people  of  France  are  known  to  be  faultless  sharers  with  the 
American  nation  in  the  misfortunes  and  calamities  of  our  unhappy  civil 
war ;  nor  do  we  on  this,  any  more  than  on  other  occasions,  forget  the 
traditional  friendship  of  the  two  countries,  which  we  unhesitatingly  be- 
eve  has  inspired  the  counsels  that  M.  Drouyn  de  l'Huys  has  imparted. 

lie  says,  "the  Federal  Government  does  not  despair,  we  know,  of  giv- 
ing more  active  impulse  to  hostilities ;"  and  again  he  remarks,  u  the  pro- 
traction of  the  struggle,  in  a  word,  has  not  shaken  the  confidence  (of  the 
Federal  Government)  in  the  definite  success  of  its  efforts." 

These  passages  seem  to  me  to  do  unintentional  injustice  to  the  language, 
whether  confidential  or  public,  in  which  this  Government  has  constantly 
spoken  on  the  subject  of  the  war.  It  certainly  has  had  and  avowed  only 
one  purpose — a  determination  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  country. 
So  far  from  admitting  any  laxity  of  effort,  or  betraying  any  despondency, 
the  Government  has,  on  the  contrary,  borne  itself  cheerfully  in  all  vicissi- 
tudes, with  unwavering  confidence  in  an  early  and  complete  triumph  of 
the  national  cause.  Now,  when  we  are,  in  a  manner,  invited  by  a  friendly 
power  to  review  the  twenty -one  months'  history  of  the  conflict,  we  find 
no  occasion  to  abate  that  confidence.  Through  such  an  alternation  of 
victories  and  defeats  as  is  the  appointed  incident  of  every  war,  the  land 
and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  have  steadily  advanced,  reclaiming 
from  the  insurgents  the  ports,  forts,  and  posts  which  they  had  treacher-  i 
ously  seized  before  the  strife  actually  began,  and  even  before  it  was  seri- 
ously apprehended.  So  many  of  the  States  and  districts*  ♦vhich  the  insur-  I 
gents  included  in  the  field  of  their  projected  exclusive  slaveholding 
dominions  have  already  been  re-established  under  the  flag  of  the  Union, 
that  they  now  retain  only  the  States  of  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Texas, 
with  half  of  Virginia,  half  of  Forth  Carolina,  two-thirds  of  South  Caro-  j 
,'ua,  half  of  Mississippi,  and  one-third  respectively  of  Arkansas  and  j 
Louisiana.  The  national  forces  hold  even  this  small  territory  in  close 
blockade  and  siege. 

Thi3  Government,  if  required,  does  not  hesitate  to  submit  its  achieve 
inents  to  the  test  of  comparison;  and  it  maintains  that  in  no  part  of  the 
world,  and  in  no  times,  ancient  or  modern,  has  a  nation,  when  rendered  ' 
all  unready  for  combat  by  the  enjoyment  of  eighty  years  of  almost  un- 
broken peace,  so  quickly  awakened  at  the  alarm  of  sedition,  put  forth 
energies  so  vigorous,  and  achieved  successes  so  signal  and  effective  as  < 
those  which  have  marked  the  progress  of  this  contest  on  the  part  of  the 
Union. 

M.  Drouyn  de  l'Huys,  I  fear,  has  taken  other  light  than  the  correspond- 
ence of  this  Government  for  his  guidance  in  ascertaining  its  temper  and 
firmness.  He  has  probably  read  of  divisions  of  sentiment  among  those 
who  bold  themselves  forth  as  organs  of  public  opinion  here,  and  has  givos 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  337 

to  them  an  undue  importance.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  this  ia  n  nation 
of  thirty  millions,  civilly  divided  into  forty-one  States  and  Ten- i Lories, 
which  cover  an  expanse  hardly  less  than  Europe ;  that  the  people  are  a 
pure  democracy,  exercising  everywhere  the  utmost  freedom  of  speech  and 
suffrage  ;  that  a  great  crisis  necessarily  produces  vehement  as  well  as  pro- 
found debate,  with  sharp  collisions  of  individual,  local,  and  sectional 
interests,  sentiments,  and  ambitions ;  and  that  this  heat  of  controversy  is 
increased  by  the  intervention  of  speculations,  interests,  prejudices,  and 
passions  from  every  other  part  of  the  civilized  world.  It  is,  however, 
through  such  debates  that  the  agreement  of  the  nation  upon  any  subject 
is  habitually  attained,  its  resolutions  formed,  and  its  policy  establishes 
TVhile  there  has  been  much  difference  of  popular  opinion  and  favi 
concerning  the  agenwj  who  shall  carry  on  the  war,  the  princip'«3  cu 
which  it  shall  be  waged,  and  the  means  with  which  it  shall  be  pros- 
ecuted, M.  Drouyn  de  l'Huys  has  only  to  refer  to  the  statute-book  of 
Congress  and  the  Executive  ordinances  to  learn  that  the  national  ac- 
tivity has  hitherto  been,  and  yet  is,  as  efficient  as  that  of  any  other 
Qation,  whatever  its  form  of  government,  ever  was,  under  circumstances 
of  equally  grave  import  to  its  peace,  safety,  and  welfare.  Not  one  voice 
has  been  raised  anywhere,  out  of  the  immediate  field  of  the  insurrection, 
in  favor  of  foreign  intervention,  of  mediation,  of  arbitration,  or  of  com- 
promise, with  the  relinquishment  of  one  acre  of  the  national  domain,  or 
the  surrender  of  even  one  constitutional  franchise.  At  the  same  time,  it 
is  manifest  to  the  world  that  our  resources  are  yet  abundant,  and  our 
credit  adequate  to  the  existing  emergency. 

What  M.  Drouyn  de  l'Huys  suggests  is,  that  this  Government  shall  ap- 
point commissioners  to  meet,  on  neutral  ground,  commissioners  of  the 
insurgents.  He  supposes  that  in  the  conferences  to  be  thus  held,  recipro- 
cal complaints  could  be  discussed,  and  in  place  of  the  accusations  which 
the  North  and  South  now  mutually  cast  upon  each  other,  the  conferees 
would  be  engaged  with  discussions  of  the  interests  which  divide  them. 
He  assumes,  further,  that  the  commissioners  would  seek,  by  means  of  well- 
ordered  and  profound  deliberation,  whether  these  interests  are  definitively 
irreconcilable,  whether  separation  is  an  extreme  that  can  no  longer  be 
avoided,  or  whether  the  memories  of  a  common  existence,  the  ties  of  every 
kind  which  have  made  the  North  and  the  South  one  whole  Federative 
State,  and  have  borne  them  on  to  so  high  a  degree  of  prosperity,  are  not 
more  powerful  than  the  causes  which  have  placed  arms  in  the  hands  of  the 
two  populations. 

The  suggestion  is  not  an  extraordinary  one,  and  it  may  well  have  Deen 
thought  by  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  in  the  earnestness  of  his  benevo- 
lent desire  for  the  restoration  of  peace,  a  feasible  one.  But  when  M. 
Drouyn  de  l'Huys  shall  come  to  review  it  iu  the  light  in  which  it  must 
necssearily  be  examined  iu  this  country,  I  think  he  can  hardly  fail  to  per- 
ceive that  it  amounts  to  nothing  less  than  a  proposition  that,  wbile  this 
Government  is  engaged  in  suppressing  an  armed  insurrection,  with  the 
22 


338  Tux  LiFjti,  Public  Services,  and 

purpose  of  maintaining  the  constitutional  national  authority,  and  preserving 
the  integrity  of  the  country,  it  shall  enter  into  diplomatic  discussion  with 
the  insurgents  upon  the  questions  whether  that  authority  shall  not  be  re- 
nounced, and  whether  the  country  shall  not  be  delivered  over  to  disunion, 
uO  be  quickly  followed  by  ever-increasing  anarchy. 

If  it  were  possible  for  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  com- 
promise the  national  authority  so  far  as  to  enter  into  such  debates,  it  is 
not  easy  to  perceive  what  good  results  could  be  obtained  by  them. 

The  commissioners  must  agree  in  recommending  either  that  the  Union 
shall  stand  or  that  it  shall  be  voluntarily  dissolved ;  or  else  they  must  leave 
the  vital  question  unsettled,  to  abide  at  last  the  fortunes  of  the  war.  The 
Government  has  not  shut  out  the  knowledge  of  the  present  temper,  any 
more  than  of  the  past  purposes,  of  the  insurgents.  There  is  not  the  least 
ground  to  suppose  that  the  controlliug  actors  would  be  persuaded  at  this 
moment,  by  any  arguments  which  national  commissioners  could  otter,  to 
forego  the  ambition  that  has  impelled  them  to  the  disloyal  position  they 
are  occupying.  Any  commissioners  who  should  be  appointed  by  these 
actors,  or  through  their  dictation  or  influence,  must  enter  the  conference 
imbued  with  the  spirit  and  pledged  to  the  personal  fortunes  of  the  insur- 
gent chiefs.  The  loyal  people  in  the  insurrectionary  States  would  be  un- 
heard, and  any  offer  of  peace  by  this  Government,  on  the  condition  of  the 
maintenance  of  the  Union,  must  necessarily  be  rejected. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  this  Government  has 
not  the  least  thought  of  relinquishing  the  trust  which  has  been  confided 
to  it  by  the  nation  under  the  most  solemn  of  all  political  sanctions;  and 
if  it  had  any  such  thought,  it  would  still  have  abundant  reason  to  know 
that  peace  proposed  at  the  cost  of  dissolution  would  be  immediately,  un- 
reservedly, and  indignantly  rejected  by  the  American  people.  It  is  a  grea* 
mistake  that  European  statesmen  make,  if  they  suppose  this  people  art 
demoralized.  Whatever,  in  the  case  of  an  insurrection,  the  people  of 
France,  or  of  Great  Britain,  or  of  Switzerland,  or  of  the  Netherlands  would 
do  to  save  their  national  existence,  no  matter  how  the  strife  might  be  re- 
garded by  or  might  affect  foreign  nations,  just  so  much,  and  certainly  no 
'ess,  the  people  of  the  United  States  will  do,  if  necessary  to  save  for  the  com- 

on  benefit  the  region  which  is  bounded  by  the  Pacific  and  the  Atlantic 
oasts,  and  by  the  shores  of  the  Gulfs  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Mexico,  together 
with  the  free  and  common  navigation  of  the  Rio  Grande,  Missouri,  Arkan- 
sas, Mississippi,  Ohio,  St.  Lawrence,  Hudson,  Delaware,  Potomac,  and 
other  natural  highways  by  which  this  land,  which  to  them  is  at  once  a 
land  of  inheritance  and  a  land  of  promise,  is  opened  and  watered.  Even 
if  the  agents  of  the  American  people  now  exercising  their  power  should, 
Mi  rough  fear  or  faction,  fall  below  this  height  of  the  national  virtue,  they 
would  be  speedily,  yet  constitutionally,  replaced  by  others  of  sterner 
character  and  patriotism. 

I  must  be  allowed  to  say,  also,  that  M.  Drouyn  de  l'Huys  errs  in  his 
description  of  the  parties  to  the  •••vgenl  '•ontiict     We  have  here,  in  th« 


State  Pamsks  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  339 

political  sense,  no  North  and  South,  no  Northern  and  Southern  States. 
We  have  an  insurrectionary  party,  which  is  located  chielly  upon  and  adja- 
cent to  the  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  and  we  have,  on  the  other  hand, 
a  loyal  people,  who  constitute  not  only  Northern  States,  but  also  Eastern, 
Middle,  Western,  and  Southern  States. 

I  have  on  many  occasions  heretofore  submitted  to  the  French  Govern- 
ment the  President's  views  of  the  interests,  and  the  ideas  more  effective 
for  the  time  than  even  interests,  which  lie  at  the  bottom  of  the  determi- 
nation of  the  American  Government  and  people  to  maintain  the  Federal 
Union.  The  President  has  done  the  same  thing  in  his  Messages  and  other 
public  declarations.  I  refrain,  therefore,  from  reviewing  that  argument  ir 
connection  wTith  the  existing  question. 

M.  Drouyn  de  l'Huys  draws  to  his  aid  the  conferences  which  took  place 
between  the  Colonies  and  Great  Britain  in  our  Revolutionary  War.  He 
m\\  allow  us  to  assume  that  action  in  the  crisis  of  a  nation  must  accord 
with  its  necessities,  and  therefore  can  seldom  be  conformed  to  precedents. 
Great  Britain,  when  entering  on  tho  negotiations,  had  manifestly  come  to 
entertain  doubts  of  her  ultimate  success;  and  it  is  certain  that  the  councils 
of  the  Colonies  could  not  fail  to  take  new  courage,  if  not  to  gain  other 
advantage,  when  the  parent  State  compromised  so  far  as  to  treat  of  peace 
on  the  terms  of  conceding  their  independence. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  peace  must  come  at  some  time,  and  that  con- 
ferences must  attend,  if  they  are  not  allowed  to  precede  tntj  pacification. 
There  is,  however,  a  better  form  for  such  conferences  than  the  one  which 
M.  Drouyn  de  l'Huys  suggests.  The  latter  would  be  palpably  in  deroga- 
tion of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  would  carry  no  weight, 
because  destitute  of  the  sanction  necessary  to  bind  either  the  disloyal  or 
the  loyal  portions  of  the  people.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  furnishes  a  constitutional  forum  for  debates  between  the 
alienated  parties.  Senators  and  representatives  from  the  loyal  portion 
of  the  people  are  there  already,  freely  empowered  to  confer ;  and  seats 
a_Bo  are  vacant,  and  inviting  senators  and  representatives  of  this  discon- 
tented party  who  may  be  constitutionally  sent  there  from  the  States  in- 
volved ir.  the  insurrection.  Moreover,  the  conferences  which  can  thus  be 
held  in  Congress  have  this  great  advantage  over  any  that  could  be  organ- 
ized  upon  the  plan  of  M.  Drouyn  de  l'Huys,  namely,  that  the  Congress,  if 
it  were  thought  wise,  could  call  a  national  convention  to  adopt  its  recom- 
mendations, and  give  them  all  the  solemnity  and  binding  force  of  organic 
law.  Such  conferences  between  the  alienated  parties  may  be  said  to  have 
already  begun.  Maryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Missouri 
— States  which  are  claimed  by  the  insurgents — are  already  represented  in 
Congress,  and  submitting  with  perfect  freedom  and  in  a  proper  spirit 
their  advice  upon  the  course  best  calculated  to  bring  about,  in  the  shortest 
time,  a  firm,  lasting,  and  honorable  peace.  Representatives  have  been 
•ent  also  from  Louisiana,  and  others  are  understood  to  be  coming  from 


340  The  Life,  Public  Services,  avt> 

There  is  a  preponderating  argument  in  favor  of  the  Congressional  form 
r>f  conference  over  that  which  is  suggested  by  M.  Drouyn  de  l'lluys, 
namely,  that  while  an  accession  to  the  latter  would  bring  this  Govern- 
ment into  a  concurrence  with  the  insurgents  in  disregarding  and  setting 
aside  an  important  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  so 
would  be  of  pernicious  example,  the  Congressional  conference,  on  the 
contrary,  preserves  and  gives  new  strength  to  that  sacred  writing  which 
must  continue  through  future  ages  the  sheet-anchor  of  the  Republic. 

You  will  be  at  liberty  to  read  this  dispatch  to  M.  Drouyn  de  l'Huyg, 
and  to  give  him  a  copy  if  he  shall  desire  it. 

To  the  end  that  you  may  be  informed  of  the  whole  case,  I  transmit  » 
oopy  of  M.  Drouyn  de  l'Huys's  dispatch. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

William  H.  Seward. 

The  effect  of  this  dispatcn  was  very  marked.  It  put  an 
end  to  all  talk  of  foreign  intervention  in  any  form,  and 
met  the  cordial  and  even  enthusiastic  approbation  of  the 
people  throughout  the  country.  Its  closing  suggestions, 
as  to  the  mode  in  which  the  Southern  States  could  resume 
their  old  relations  to  the  Federal  Government,  were  re- 
garded as  significant  indications  of  the  policy  the  Ad- 
ministration was  inclined  to  pursue  whenever  the  ques- 
tion of  restoration  should  become  practical ;  and  while 
they  were  somewhat  sharply  assailed,  in  some  quarters, 
they  commanded  the  general  assent  of  the  great  body  of 
the  people. 

The  subject  of  appointing  commissioners  to  confer  with 
the  authorities  of  the  rebel  Confederacy  had  been  dis- 
cussed, before  the  appearance  of  this  correspondence,  in 
'the  Northern  States.  It  had  emanated  from  the  party 
most  openly  in  hostility  to  the  Administration,  and  those 
men  in  that  party  who  had  been  most  distinctly  opposed 
to  any  measures  of  coercion,  or  any  resort  to  force  for  the 
purpose  of  overcoming  the  rebellion.  It  was  represented 
by  these  persons  that  the  civil  authorities  of  the  Confed- 
eracy were  restrained  from  abandoning  the  contest  only 
by  the  refusal  or  neglect  of  the  Government  to  give  them 
an  opportunity  of  doing  so  without  undue  humiliation 
and  dishonor ;  and  in  December,  Hon.  Fernando  Wood, 
of  New  York,  wrote  to  the  President,  informing  him  that 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  34* 

he  had  reason  to  believe  the  Southern  States  would  "  send 
representatives  to  the  next  Congress,  provided  a  full  and 
general  amnesty  should  permit  them  to  do  so,"  and  ask- 
ing the  appointment  of  commissioners  to  ascertain  the 
truth  of  these  assurances. 

To  this  request  the  President  made  the  following  re- 

:  y  : — 

ExEcirrrv*  Mansion,  Washington,  December  IB,  180B. 
Rei.  Fernando  Wood  : 

My  Deab  Sir: — Your  letter  of  the  8th,  with  the  accompanying  note  of 
same  date,  was  received  yesterday. 

The  most  important  paragraph  in  the  letter,  as  I  consider,  is  in  these 
words:  "On  the  25th  of  November  last  I  was  advised  by  an  authority 
which  I  deemed  likely  to  be  well  informed,  as  well  as  reliable  and  truth- 
ful, that  the  Southern  States  would  send  representatives  to  the  next  Con- 
gress, provided  that  a  full  and  general  amnesty  should  permit  them  to  do 
so.  No  guarantee  or  terms  were  asked  for  other  than  the  amnesty  re- 
ferred to." 

1  strongly  suspect  your  information  will  prove  to  be  groundless ;  never- 
theless, I  thank  you  for  communicating  it  to  me.  Understanding  the 
phrase  in  the  paragraph  above  quoted — "  the  Southern  States  would  send 
representatives  to  the  next  Congress  " — to  be  substantially  the  same  as 
that  "the  people  of  the  Southern  States  would  cease  resistance,  and  would 
reinaugurate,  submit  to,  and  maintain  the  national  authority  within  the 
limits  of  such  States,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,"  I  say 
that  in  such  case  the  war  would  cease  on  the  part  of  the  United  States; 
find  that  if  withiu  a,  reasonable  time  "  a  fnll  and  general  amnesty"  were 
tic(  essary  to  such  end,  it  would  not  be  withheld. 

f  do  not  think  it  would  be  proper  now  to  communicate  this,  formally 
informally,  to  the  people  of  the  Southern  States.     My  belief  is  that 

©y  already  know  it;  and  when  they  choose,  if  ever,  they  can  commu- 
nicate with  me  unequivocally.  Nor  do  I  think  it  proper  now  to  suspend 
military  operations  to  try  any  experiment  of  negotiation. 

1  should  nevertheless  receive,  with  great  pleasure,  the  exact  informa- 
tion you  now  have,  and  also  such  other  as  you  may  in  any  way  obtain. 
Such  information  might  be  more  valuable  before  the  1st  of  January  thar 
p.fterwards. 

While  there  is  nothing  in  this  letter  which  I  shall  dread  to  see  in  his- 
tory, it  is,  perhaps,  better  for  the  present  that  its  existence  should  not 
become  public.  I  therefore  have  to  request  that  you  will  rogard  it  as 
sonfidential.    Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  LlNOOLN. 

Tto?  intimation  in  this  better  that  information  oonceruiug 


342  The  Life,  Public  Ser vices,  and 

the  alleged  willingness  of  the  rebels  to  resume  their  alle 
giance,  "  might  be  more  valuable  before  the  1st  of  Jan 
nary  than  afterwards, "  had  reference  to  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  which  he  proposed  to  issue  on  that  day, 
unless  the  offer  of  his  preliminary  proclamation  should 
be  accepted.  That  proclamation  had  been  issued  on  the 
22d  of  September,  and  the  sense  of  responsibility  undei 
which  this  step  was  taken,  was  clearly  indicated  in  the 
following  remarks  made  by  the  President  on  the  evening 
of  the  24th  of  that  month,  in  acknowledging  the  compli- 
ment of  a  serenade  at  the  Executive  Mansion : — 

Fellow-Citizens  : — I  appear  before  you  to  do  little  more  than  acknowl- 
edge the  courtesy  you  pay  me,  and  to  thank  you  for  it.  I  have  not  been 
distinctly  informed  why  it  is  that  on  this  occasion  you  appear  to  do  me 
this  honor,  though  I  suppose  it  is  because  of  the  proclamation.  What  I 
did,  I  did  after  a  very  full  deliberation,  and  under  a  very  heavy  and  sol- 
emn sense  of  responsibility.  I  can  only  trust  in  God  I  havt  made  no  mis- 
take. I  shall  make  no  attempt  on  this  occasion  to  sustain  what  I  have 
done  or  said  by  any  comment.  It  is  now  for  the  country  and  the  world 
to  pass  judgment,  and  may  be  take  action  upon  it.  I  will  say  no  more 
upon  this  subject.  In  my  position  I  am  environed  with  difficulties.  Yet 
they  are  scarcely  so  great  as  the  difficulties  of  those  who,  upon  the  battle- 
field, are  endeavoring  to  purchase  with  their  blood  and  their  lives  the  fu- 
ture happiness  and  prosperity  of  this  country.  Let  us  never  forget  them. 
On  the  14th  and  17th  days  of  this  present  month  there  have  been  battles 
bravely,  skilfully,  and  successfully  fought.  We  do  not  yet  know  the  par- 
ticulars. Let  us  be  sure  that,  in  giving  praise  to  certain  individuals,  we 
do  no  injustice  to  others.  I  only  ask  you,  at  the  conclusion  of  these  few 
remarks,  to  give  three  hearty  cheers  to  all  good  and  brave  officer?  and 
mei.  who  fought  those  successful  battles. 

In  November  the  President  published  the  following 
order  regarding  the  observance  of  the  day  of  rest,  and 
the  vice  of  profanity,  in  the  army  and  navy : — 

Exbcutiy*  Mansion,  Washington,  November  16, 1862. 

The  President,  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  desires  and 
enjoins  the  orderly  observance  of  the  Sabbath  by  the  officers  and  men  in 
the  military  and  naval  service.  The  importance  for  man  and  beast  of  the 
prescribed  weekly  rest,  the  sacred  rights  of  Christian  soldiers  and  sailors, 
a  becoming  deference  to  the  best  sentiment  of  a  Christian  people,  and  a 
dao  regard  for  the  Divine  will,  demand  that  Sunday  Jabor  in  the  army  And 
navy  be  reduced  to  the  measure  of  strict  necessity. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  §43 

Tlie  diwipliae  and  character  of  the  National  forces  should  not  snflfer. 
nor  the  cause  they  defend  be  imperilled,  by  the  profanation  of  the  day  or 
name  of  the  Most  High.  "At  this  time  of  publis  distress,"  adopting  the 
words  of  Washington  in  1776,  "men  may  find  enough  to  do  in  the  service 
of  God  and  their  country,  without  abandoning  themselves  to  vice  and  im- 
morality." The  first  general  order  issued  by  the  Father  of  his  Country 
after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  indicates  the  spirit  in  which  our 
institutions  were  founded,  and  should  ever  be  defended.  "  The  general 
jopes  and  trusts  that  every  officer  and  man  will  endeavor  to  live  and  act 
<5s  becomes  a  Christian  soldier  defending  the  dearest  rights  and  liberfeai 
c  h\s  eoiiiitry." 

A.  LlHOOLS. 


344  The  Life,  .Public  Services.  and 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE   CONGRESSIONAL  SESSION   OF  1862-'63.— MESSAGE  OF  THE 
PRESIDENT  AND   GENERAL  ACTION  OF  THE   SESSION. 

The  Pkesident's  Message. — Are  the  IIebel  States  Aliens? — Tub  V*r 
vision  fok  a  dkaft. — message  on  the  finances  and  currency. 
Admission  of  Western  Virginia. — Close  of  the  Session. 

The  third  session  of  the  Tliirty- seventh  Congress  opened 
on  the  1st  day  of  December,  1862— the  supporters  of  the 
Administration  having  a  large  majority  in  both  branches. 
The  general  condition  of  the  country,  and  the  progress 
made  in  quelling  the  rebellion,  are  clearly  set  forth  in  the 
following  Message  of  President  Lincoln,  which  was  sent 
in  to  Congress  at  the  beginning  of  the  session : — 

Fellow-  Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives : — 

Since  your  last  annual  assembling,  another  year  of  health  and  bountiful 
harvests  has  passed,  and  Awhile  it  has  not  pleased  the  Almighty  to  bless 
us  with  the  return  of  peace,  we  can  but  press  on,  guided  by  the  best  light 
He  gives  us,  trusting  that,  in  His  own  good  time  and  wise  way,  all  will 
be  well. 

The  correspondence,  touching  foreign  affairs,  which  has  taken  place 
dur'ng  the  last  year,  is  herewith  submitted,  in  virtual  compliance  with  a 
request  to  that  effect  made  by  the  House  of  Representatives  near  the  dose 
of  the  last  session  of  Congress.  If  the  condition  of  our  relations  with 
other  nations  is  less  gratifying  than  it  has  usually  been  at  former  periods, 
it  is  certinly  more  satisfactory  than  a  nation  so  unhappily  distracted  ;is 
we  are  might  reasonably  have  apprehended.  In  the  month  of  June  last 
there  were  some  grounds  to  expect  that  the  maritime  Powers,  which,  at 
the  beginning  of  our  domestic  difficulties,  so  unwisely  and  unncessarik, 
as  we  think,  recognized  the  insurgents  as  a  belligerent,  would  soon  recede 
from  that  position,  which  has  proved  only  less  injurious  to  themselves 
than  to  our  own  country.  But  the  temporary  reverses  which  afterwards 
befell  the  National  arms,  and  which  were  exaggerated  by  our  own 
disloyal  citizens  abroad,  have  hitherto  delayed  that  act  of  simple  jus- 
tice. 

The  civil  war  which  lias  so  radically  changed  for  the  moment  the  occu- 
pations and  habits  of  the  American  people,  has  necessarily  disturbed  the 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  345 

social  condition,  and  affected  very  deeply  the  prosperity  of  the  nations 
with  winch  we  hare  carried  on  a  commerce  that  has  been  steadily  in- 
creasing throughout  a  period  of  half  a  century.  It  has,  at  the  same  time, 
excited  political  ambitions  and  apprehensions  which  have  produced  a  pro- 
found agitation  throughout  the  civilized  world.  In  this  unusual  agitation 
we  ha\>e  forborne  from  taking  part  in  any  controversy  between  foreign 
States,  and  between  parties  or  factions  in  such  States.  We  have  attempt- 
ed no  propagandism,  and  acknowledged  no  revolution.  But  we  have  left 
to  every  nation  the  exclusive  conduct  and  management  of  its  own  affairs. 
Our  struggle  has  been,  of  course,  contemplated  by  foreign  nations  with 
reference  less  to  its  own  merits  than  to  its  supposed  and  often  exaggerated 
effects  and  consequences  resulting  to  those  nations  themselves.  Never- 
theless, complaint  on  the  part  of  this  Government,  even  of  it  were  just, 
would  certainly  be  unwise. 

The  treaty  with  Great  Britain  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade 
has  been  _iut  into  operation  with  a  good  prospect  of  complete  success.  It 
is  an  occasion  of  special  pleasure  to  acknowledge  that  the  execution  of  it 
on  the  part  of  ITer  Majesty's  Government  has  been  marked  with  a  jealous 
respect  for  the  authority  of  the  United  States  and  the  rights  of  their  moi  al 
and  loyal  citizens. 

The  convention  with  Hanover  for  the  abolition  of  the  stade  dues 
has  been  carried  into  full  effect,  under  the  act  of  Congress  for  that  pur- 
pose, l 

A  blockade  of  three  thousand  miles  of  sea-coast  could  not  oe  established 
and  vigorously  enforced,  in  a  season  of  great  commercial  activity  like  the 
present,  without  committing  occasional  mistakes,  and  inflicting  uninten- 
tional injuries  upon  foreign  nations  and  their  subjects. 

A  civil  war  occurring  in  a  country  where  foreigners  reside  and  carry 
on  trade  under  treaty  stipulations  is  necessarily  fruitful  of  complaints  of 
the  violation  of  neutral  rights.  All  such  collisions  tend  to  excite  misap- 
prehensions, and  possibly  to  produce  mutual  reclamations  between  nations 
which  have  a  common  interest  in  preserving  peace  and  friendship.  In 
clear  cases  of  these  kinds  I  have,  so  far  as  possible,  heard  and  redressed 
romplaints  which  have  been  presented  by  friendly  Powers.  There  is  s"  ill, 
hcwever,  a  large  and  an  augmenting  number  of  doubtful  cases,  upon 
which  the  Government  is  unable  to  agree  with  the  Governments  whose 
protection  is  demanded  by  the  claimants.  There  are,  moreover,  many 
cases  in  which  the  United  States,  or  their  citizens,  suffer  wrongs  from  the 
naval  or  military  authorities  of  foreign  nations,  which  the  Governments 
of  these  States  are  not  at  once  prepared  to  redress.  I  have  proposed  to 
some  of  the  foreign  States  thus  interested  mutual  conventions  to  examine 
and  adjust  such  complaints.  This  proposition  has  been  made  especially 
to  Great  Britain,  to  France,  to  Spain,  and  to  Prussia.  In  each  case  it  has 
been  kindly  received,  but  has  not  yet  been  formally  adopted. 

T  deem  it  my  duty  to  recommend  an  appropriation  in  behalf  of  the 
wneri  of  the  Norwegian  bark    Admiral  P,  TornVnskiold,  which  vessel 


S46  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

was  in  May,  1861,  prevented  by  the  commander  of  the  blockading  force 
<>if  Charleston  from  leaving  that  port  with  cargo,  notwithstanding  a  sim- 
ilar privilege  had,  shortly  before,  been  granted  to  an  English  vessel.  I 
have  directed  the  Secretary  of  State  to  cause  the  papers  in  the  case  to  be 
communicated  to  the  proper  committees. 

Applications  have  been  made  to  me  by  many  free  Americans  of  African 
descent  to  favor  their  emigration,  with  a  view  to  such  colonization  as  w*r 
contemplated  in  recent  acts  of  Congress.  Other  parties,  at  home  an  J 
abroad — some  from  interested  motives,  others  upon  patriotic  considers* 
tions,  and  still  others  influenced  by  philanthropic  sentiments — have  sug- 
gested similar  measures;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  several  of  the  Span- 
ish-American Republics  have  protested  against  the  sending  of  such  colo- 
nies to  their  respective  territories.  Under  these  circumstances,  I  have 
declined  to  move  any  such  colony  to  any  State  without  first  obtaining  the 
consent  of  its  Government,  with  an  agreement  on  its  part  to  receive  and 
protect  such  emigrants  in  all  the  rights  of  freemen ;  and  I  have  at  the 
game  time  offered  to  the  several  States  situated  within  the  tropics,  or 
baving  colonies  there,  to  negotiate  with  them,  subject  to  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  to  favor  the  voluntary  emigration  of  persons  of  that 
class  \z  i  teir  respective  territories,  upon  conditions  which  shall  be  equal, 
just,  a/ic  humane.  Liberia  and  Hayti  are,  as  yet,  the  only  countries  to 
which  colonists  of  African  descent  from  here  could  go  with  certainty  of 
being  received  and  adopted  i2  citizens ;  and  I  regret  to  say  such  persons, 
contemplating  colonization,  do  not  seem  so  willing  to  migrate  to  tiiose 
countries  as  to  some  others,  nor  so  willing  as  I  think  their  interest  de 
mands.  I  believe,  however,  opinion  among  them  in  this  respect  is 
improving;  and  that  ere  long  there  will  be  an  augmented  and  considera- 
ble migration  to  both  these  countries  from  the  United  States. 

The  new  commercial  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  the  Sultan 
of  Turkey  has  been  carried  into  execution. 

A  commercial  and  consular  treaty  has  been  negotiated,  subject  in  the. 
Senate's  consent,  with  Liberia;  and  a  similar  negotiation  is  now  pending  j 
wi  h  the  Republic  of  Hayti.    A  considerable  improvement  of  the  national 
coi.iraerce  is  expected  to  result  from  these  measures. 

Our  relations  with  Great  Britain,  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Russia, 
Prussia,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Austria,  the  .Netherlands,  Italy,  Rome,  and 
the  other  European  States  remain  undisturbed.  Very  favorable  rela- 
tions also  continue  to  be  maintained  with  Turkey,  Morocco,  China,  and 
Japan. 

During  the  last  year  there  has  not  only  been  no  change  of  our  previous 
relations  with  the  Independent  States  of  our  own  continent,  but  more 
friendly  sentiments  than  have  heretofore  existed  are  believed  to  be  en 
tertained  by  these  neighbors,  whose  safety  and  progress  are  so  intimately 
connected  with  our  own.  This  statement  especially  applies  to  Mexico, 
Nicaragua,  Costa  Rica,  Honduras,  Pern,  and  Chili. 

The  commission  under  the  convention  with  the  Republic  of  New  Gra 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  347 

nada  closed  its  session  without  having  audited  and  passed  upon  all  the 
claims  which  were  submitted  to  it.  A  proposition  is  pending  to  revive 
the  convention,  that  it  be  able  to  do  more  complete  justice.  The  joint 
commission  between  the  United  States  and  the  Republic  of  Costa  Rica 
has  completed  its  labors  and  submitted  its  report. 

I  have  favored  the  project  for  connecting  the  United  States  with  Eu- 
rope by  an  Atlantic  telegraph,  and  a  similar  project  to  extend  the  tele- 
graph from  San  Francisco  to  connect  by  a  Pacific  telegraph  with  the  line 
which  is  being  extended  across  the  Russian  Empire.  *• 

The  Territories  of  the  United  States,  with  unimportant  exception 8, 
have  remained  undisturbed  by  the  civil  war;  and  they  are  exhibiting 
such  evidence  of  prosperity  as  justifies  an  expectation  that  some  of  them 
will  soon  be  in  a  condition  to  be  organized  as  States,  and  be  constat  ltion- 
ally  admitted  into  the  Federal  Union. 

The  immense  mineral  resourced  of  some  of  those  Territories  ought  to 
be  developed  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Every  step  in  that  direction  would 
have  a  tendency  to  improve  the  revenues  of  the  Government  and  dimin- 
ish the  burdens  of  the  people.  It  is  worthy  of  your  serious  considera- 
tion m  hether  some  extraordinary  measures  to  promote  that  end  cannot 
be  adopted.  The  means  which  suggests  itself  as  most  likely  to  be  effec- 
tive, is  a  scientific  exploration  of  the  mineral  regions  in  those  Territories, 
with  a  view  to  the  publication  of  its  results  at  home  and  in  foreign  coun- 
tries— results  which  cannot  fail  to  be  auspicious. 

The  condition  of  the  finances  will  claim  your  most  diligent  considera- 
tion. The  vast  expenditures  incident  to  the  military  and  naval  opera- 
tions required  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  have  been  hitherto 
met  with  a  promptitude  and  certainty  unusual  in  similar  circumstances; 
and  the  public  credit  has  been  fully  maintained.  The  continuance  of  the 
war,  however,  and  the  increased  disbursements  made  necessary  by  the 
augmented  forces  now  in  the  field,  demand  your  best  reflections  as  to  the 
best  modes  of  providing  the  necessary  revenue,  without  injury  to  busi- 
ness, and  with  the  least  possible  burdens  upon  labor. 

The  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks,  soon  after  the  com- 
mencement of  your  last  session,  made  large  issues  of  United  States  notes 
auavoidable.  In  no  other  way  could  the  payment  of  the  troops  and  the 
satisfaction  of  other  just  demands,  be  so  economically  or  so  well  provided 
for.  The  judicious  legislation  of  Congress,  securing  *he  receivability  of 
these  notes  for  loans  and  internal  duties,  and  making  them  a  legal  tender 
for  other  debts,  has  made  them  a  universal  currency,  and  has  satisfied, 
partially  at  least,  and  for  the  time,  the  long  felt  want  of  a  uniform  circu- 
lating medium,  saving  thereby  to  the  people  immense  sums  in  discount* 
and  exchanges. 

A  return  to  specie  payments,  however,  at  the  earliest  period  compati- 
ble with  due  regard  to  all  interests  concerned,  should  ever  be  kept  in 
view.  Fluctuations  in  the  value  of  currency  are  always  injurious,  and 
to  reduce  these  fluctuations  to  the  lowest  possible  point  win  **.lways  be  a 


348  Thl  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

leading  purpose  in  wise  legislation.  Convertibility,  prompt  and  certain 
convertibility  into  coin,  is  generally  acknowledged  to  be  the  best  and 
•nrest  safeguard  against  them ;  and  it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  a 
circulation  of  United  States  notes,  payable  in  coin,  and  sufficiently  large 
for  the  wants  of  the  people,  can  be  permanently,  usefully,  aud  safely 
maintained. 

Is  there,  then,  any  other  mode  in  which  the  necessary  provision  for 
the  public  wants  can  be  made,  and  the  great  advantages  of  a  safe  and 
uniform  currency  secured? 

1  know  of  none  which  promises  so  certain  results,  and  is,  at  the  same 
time,  so  unobjectionable  as  the  organization  of  banking  associations,  un- 
der a  general  act  of  Congress,  well  guarded  in  its  provisions.  To  such 
associations  the  Government  might  furnish  circulating  notes,  on  the 
security  of  United  States  bonds  deposited  in  the  Treasury.  These  notes, 
prepared  under  the  supervision  of  proper  officers,  being  uniform  in  ap- 
pearance and  security,  and  convertible  always  into  coin,  would  at  once 
protect  labor  against  the  evils  of  a  vicious  currency,  and  facilitate  com- 
merce by  cheap  and  safe  exchanges. 

A  moderate  reservation  from  the  interest  on  the  bonds  would  compen- 
sate the  United  States  for  the  preparation  and  distribution  of  the  notes, 
and  a  general  supervision  of  the  system,  and  would  lighten  the  burden 
of  that  part  of  the  public  debt  employee1  as  securities.  The  public  credit, 
moreover,  would  be  greatly  improved,  and  the  negotiation  of  new  loans 
greatly  facilitated  by  the  steady  market  demand  for  Government  bonds 
which  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  system  would  create. 

It  is  an  additional  recommendation  of  the  measure,  of  considerable 
weight,  in  my  judgment,  that  it  would  reconcile  as  far  as  possible  all 
existing  interests,  by  the  opportunity  offered  to  existing  institutions  to 
reorganize  under  the  act,  substituting  only  the  secured  uniform  national 
circulation  for  the  local  and  various  circulation,  secured  and  unsecured, 
now  issued  by  them. 

The  receipts  into  the  Treasury,  from  all  sources,  including  loans,  and 
balance  from  the  preceding  year,  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  on  the  30th 
of  June,  1862,  were  $583,885,247.60,  of  which  sum  $49,056,397.62  were 
derived  from  customs;  $1,795,331.73  from  the  direct  tax;  from  public 
lands,  $152,203.77;  from  miscellaneous  sources,  $931,787.64;  from  loans 
in  all  forms,  $529,692,460.50.  The  remainder,  $2,257,065.80,  was  the 
balance  from  last  year. 

The  disbursements  during  the  same  period  were  for  Congressional, 
Executive,  and  Judicial  purposes,  $5,939,009.29;  for  foreign  intercourse, 
$1,339,710.35 ;  for  miscellaneous  expenses,  including  the  mints,  loans, 
post-office  deficiencies,  collection  of  revenue,  and  other  like  charges, 
$14,129,771.50;  for  expenses  under  the  Interior  Department,  $3,102,- 
985.52 ;  under  the  War  Department,  $394,368,407.36 ;  under  the  Navy 
Department,  $42,674,569.69;  for  interest  on  public  debt,  $13,190,324.4.0; 
and  for  payment  of  public  debt,  including  reimbursement  of  temporar* 


State  PapejIs  t>«r  Abraham  Lincoln  349 

loan,  and  redemptions,  $90,090,022.09;  making  an  aggregate  of  $570,- 
841,700.25,  and  leaving  a  balance  in  the  Treusu.w  on  the  1st  day  of  July, 
1SG2,  of  $13,043,546.81. 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  sura  of  $96,096,922.09,  expended  for 
reimbursements  and  redemption  of  public  debt,  being  included  also  in 
the  loans  made,  may  be  properly  deducted,  both  from  receipts  and  expen- 
ditures, leaving  the  actual  receipts  for  the  year  $487,788,324.97,  and  the 
expenditures,  $474,744,778.16. 

Other  information  on  the  subject  of  the  finances  will  be  found  in  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  whose  statements  a*»d  views 
I  invite  your  most  candid  and  considerate  attention. 

The  reports  of  the  Secretaries  of  War  and  of  the  Navy  are  herewith 
transmitted.  These  reports,  though  lengthy,  are  scarcely  more  than 
brief  abstracts  of  the  very  numerous  and  extensive  transactions  and 
operations  conducted  through  those  Departments.  Nor  could  1  give  a 
summary  of  them  here,  upon  any  principle  which  would  admit  of  it* 
being  mu^.2  shorter  than  the  reports  themselves.  1  therefore  content 
myself  w^th  ]«ying  the  reports  before  you,  and  asking  your  attention  tc 
them. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  report  a  decided  improvement  in  the  financial 
condition  of  the  Post-Office  Department,  as  compared  with  several  pre 
ceding  years.  The  receipts  for  the  fiscal  year  1861  amounted  tc 
$8,349,296.40,  which  embraced  the  revenue  from  all  the  States  of  the 
Union  for  three-quarters  of  that  year.  Notwithstanding  the  cessation 
of  revenue  from  the  so-called  seceded  States  during  the  last  fiscal  year, 
the  increase  of  the  correspondence  of  the  loyal  States  has  been  suffi- 
cient to  produce  a  revenue  during  the  same  year  of  $8,299,820.90, 
oeing  only  $50,000  less  than  was  derived  from  all  the  States  of  the 
Union  during  the  previous  year.  The  expenditures  show  a  still  more 
favorable  result.  The  amount  expended  in  1861  was  $13,606,759.11. 
For  the  last  year  the  amount  has  been  reduced  to  $11,125,364.13,  show- 
ing a  decrease  of  about  $2,481,000  in  the  expenditures  as  compared  with 
lie  pieceding  year,  and  about  $3,750,000  as  compared  with  the  fiscal  vear 
'»36».  The  deficiency  in  the  Department  for  the  previous  year  w.v 
$4,551,960.98.  For  the  last  fiscal  year  it  was  reduced  to  $2,112,8  u.: 
These  favorable  results  are  in  part  owing  to  the  cessation  of  mail  som. 
in  the  insurrectionary  States,  and  in  part  to  a  careful  review  of  all  expeu 
ditures  in  that  department  in  the  interest  of  economy.  The  efficiency 
of  the  postal  service,  it  is  believed,  has  also  been  much  improved.  The 
Postmaster-General  has  also  opened  a  correspondence,  through  the  De 

Ipartment  of  State,  with  foreign  Governments,  proposing  a  convention  ot 
postal  representatives  for  the  purpose  of  simplifying  the  rates  of  foreign 
postage,  and  to  expedite  the  foreign  mails.  This  proposition,  equally  im 
portant  to  our  adopted  citizens  and  to  the  commercial  interests  of  this 
country,  has  been  favorably  entertained  and  agrees  to  by  all  the  Qovern- 
inents  from  whom  replies  have  been  received. 


350  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

r  ask  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  suggestions  of  the  Postmaster- 
General  in  his  report  respecting  the  further  legislation  required,  in  his 
opinion,  for  the  benefit  of  the  postal  service. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  reports  as  follows  in  regard  to  the  rublic 

lands : — 

The  public  lands  have  ceased  to  be  a  source  of  revenue.  From  the 
1st  July,  1861,  to  the  30th  September,  1862,  the  entire  cash  receipts  from 
the  sale  of  hinds  were  $137,476.26 — a  sum  much  less  than  the  expenses 
of  our  land  system  during  the  same  period.  The  homestead  law,  whici 
will  take  effect  on  the  1st  of  January  next,  offers  such  inducements  t: 
■settlers  that  sales  for  cash  cannot  be  expected,  to  an  extent  sufficient  to 
ii-et  the  expense  of  the  General  Land  Office,  and  the  cost  of  surveying 
Und  bringing  the  land  into  market. 

The  discrepancy  between  the  sum  here  stated  as  arising  from  the 
sales  of  the  public  lands,  and  the  sum  derived  from  the  same  source  aa 
reported  from  the  Treasury  Department,  arises,  as  I  understand,  from 
the  fact  that  the  periods  of  time,  though  apparently,  were  not  reallj 
coincident  at  the  beginning-point — the  Treasury  report  including  a  con- 
siderable sum  now  which  had  previously  been  reported  from  the  inte- 
rior— sufficiently  large  to  greatly  overreach  the  sum  derived  from  the 
three  months  now  reported  upon  by  the  Interior,  and  not  by  the 
Treasury. 

The  Indian  tribes  upon  our  frontiers  have,  during  the  past  year,  mani 
fested  a  spirit  of  insubordination,  and,  at  several  points,  have  engaged  in 
open  hostilities  against  the  white  settlements  in  their  vicinity.  The 
tribes  occupying  the  Indian  country  south  of  Kansas  renounced  their 
allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  entered  into  treaties  with  the  insur- 
gents. Those  who  remained  loyal  to  the  United  States  were  driven  from 
the  country.  The  chief  of  the  Cherokees  has  visited  this  city  for  the 
purpose  of  restoring  the  former  relations  of  the  tribe  with  the  Ui.ited 
States.  He  alleges  that  they  were  constrained,  by  superior  force,  to  en- 
ter into  treaties  with  the  insurgents,  and  that  the  United  States  neg- 
ievted  to  furnish  the  protection  which  their  treaty  stipulations  required. 

In  the  month  of  August  last,  the  Sioux  Indians  in  Minnesota  attacked 
the  settlement  in  their  vicinity  with  extreme  ferocity,  killing,  indiscrimi- 
nately, men,  women,  and  children.  This  attack  was  wholly  unexpected, 
and  therefore  no  means  of  defence  had  been  provided.  It  is  estimated 
that  not  less  than  eight  hundred  persons  were  killed  by  the  Indians,  and 
a  large  amount  of  property  was  destroyed.  How  this  outbreak  was  in- 
duced is  not  definitely  known,  and  suspicions,  which  may  be  unjust,  need 
not  be  stated.  Information  was  received  by  the  Indian  Bureau,  from 
different  sources,  about  the  time  hostilities  were  commenced,  that  a  si 
multaneous  attack  was  to  be  made  upon  the  white  settlements  by  all  the 
tribes  between  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The 
State  of  Minnesota  has  suffered  great  injury  from  this  Indian  war.  A 
large  portion  of  her  territory  has  been  depopulated,  and  a  severe  lose 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  351 

has  been  sustained  by  the  destruction  of  property.  The  people  of  that 
State  manifest  much  anxiety  for  the  removal  of  the  tribes  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  State  as  a  guarantee  against  future  hostilities.  The  Coin 
inissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  will  furnish  full  details.  I  submit  for  youi 
especial  consideration  whether  our  Indian  system  shall  not  be  remodelled 
Many  wise  and  good  men  have  impressed  me  with  the  belief  that  this  can 
be  profitably  done. 

I  submit  a  statement  of  the  proceedings  of  commissioners,  which  show 
the  progress  that  has  been  made  in  the  enterprise  of  constructing  thv 
Pacific  Railroad.  And  this  suggests  the  earliest  completion  of  thi3  road, 
and  also  the  favorable  action  of  Congress  upon  the  projects  now  pending 
before  them  for  enlarging  the  capacities  of  the  great  canals  in  New  York 
and  Illinois,  as  being  of  vital  and  rapidly  increasing  importance  to  the 
whole  nation,  and  especially  to  tho  vast  interior  region  hereinafter  to  be 
noticed  at  some  greater  length.  I  purpose  having  prepared  and  laid  be- 
fore you  at  an  early  day  some  interesting  and  valuable  statistical  informa- 
tion upon  this  subject.  The  military  and  commercial  importance  of 
enlarging  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  and  improving  the  Illinois 
River,  is  presented  in  the  report  of  Colonel  Webster  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  now  transmitted  to  Congress.     I  respectfully  ask  attention  to  it 

To  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  15th  of  Ma) 
last,  I  have  caused  the  Department  of  Agriculture  of  the  United  States 
to  be  organized. 

The  Commissioner  informs  me  that  within  the  period  of  a  few  months 
this  department  has  established  an  extensive  system  of  correspondence 
and  exchanges,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  which  promises  to  effect  highly 
beneficial  results  in  the  development  of  a  correct  knowledge  of  recent 
improvements  in  agriculture,  in  the  introduction  of  new  products,  and  in 
the  collection  of  the  agricultural  statistics  of  the  different  States.  Also, 
that  it  will  soon  be  prepared  to  distribute  largely  seeds,  cereals,  plants, 
and  cuttings,  and  has  already  published  and  liberally  diffused  much  valu- 
ab'e  information  in  anticipation  of  a  more  elaborate  report,  which  will  ii 
due  time  be  furnished,  embracing  some  valuable  tests  in  chemical  science 
now  in  progress  in  the  laboratory. 

The  creation  of  this  department  was  for  the  more  immediate  benefit 
of  a  large  class  of  our  most  valuable  fellow-citizens ;  and  I  trust  that  the 
liberal  basis  upon  which  it  has  been  organized  will  not  only  meet  your 
approbation,  but  that  it  will  realize,  at  no  distant  day,  all  the  fondest 
anticipations  of  its  most  sanguine  friends,  and  become  the  fruitful  source 
ef  advantage  to  all  our  people. 

On  the  2v2d  day  of  September  last,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the 
Executive,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  submitted. 

In  accordance  with  the  purpose  expressed  in  the  second  paragraph  of 
that  paper,  I  now  respectfully  call  your  attention  to  what  may  be  called 
'"  compensated  emancipation." 

A  nation  may  be  said  to  consist  of  its  territory,  its  people.  Mid  its  "uh-s 


852  The  Life,  Public  Services,,  and 

The  territory  is  the  only  part  which  is  of  certain  durability.  '*  One  goner 
ation  passeth  away,  and  another  generation  cometh,  but  the  earth  ahidetb 
forever."  It  is  of  the  first  importance  to  duly  consider  and  estimate  thii 
ever-enduring  part.  That  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  which  is  owned 
and  inhabited  by  the  people  of  the  United  States  is  well  adapted  to  the 
home  of  one  national  family,  and  it  is  not  well  adapted  for  two  or  more 
Its  vast  extent,  and  its  variety  of  climate  and  productions,  are  of  advan- 
tage in  this  age  for  one  people,  whatever  they  might  have  been  in  forme 
ages.  Steam,  telegraphs,  and  intelligence  have  brought  these  to  be  a 
advantageous  combination  for  one  united  people. 

In  the  Inaugural  Address  I  briefly  pointed  out  the  total  inadequacy  of 
disunion  as  a  remedy  for  the  differences  between  the  people  of  the  two 
sections.  I  did  so  in  language  which  I  cannot  improve,  and  which,  there- 
fore, I  beg  to  repeat: — 

"One  section  of  our  country  believes  slavery  is  right,  and  ought  to  be 
extended;  while  the  other  believes  it  is  wrong,  and  ought  not  to  be 
extended.  This  is  the  only  substantial  dispute.  The  fugitive  slave  clause 
of  the  Constitution,  and  the  law  for  the  suppression  of  the  foreign  slave- 
trade,  are  each  as  well  enforced,  perhaps,  as  any  law  can  ever  be  in  a 
community  where  the  moral  sense  of  the  people  imperfectly  supports  the 
iaw  itself.  The  great  body  of  the  people  abide  by  the  dry  legal  obligation 
in  both  cases,  and  a  few  break  over  in  each.  This,  I  think,  cannot  be 
cured ;  and  it  would  be  worse,  in  both  cases,  after  the  separation  of  the 
sections  than  before.  The  foreign  slave-trade,  now  imperfectly  suppressed, 
would  be  ultimately  revived  without  restriction  in  one  section;  while 
fugitive  slaves,  now  only  partially  surrendered,  would  not  be  surrendered 
at  all  by  the  other. 

"Physically  speaking,  we  cannot  separate.  We  cannot  remove  our 
respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  impassable  wall  between 
them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be  divorcee^  a.vA  go  out  of  the  presence 
and  beyond  the  reach  of  each  other ;  but  the  different  parts  of  our  coun- 
try cannot  do  this.  They  cannot  but  remain  face  to  face ;  and  intercourse, 
either  amicable  or  hostile,  must  continue  between  them.  Is  it  possible, 
then,  to  make  that  intercourse  more  advantageous  or  more  satisfactory 
after  separation  than  before  ?  Can  aliens  make  treaties  easier  than  friends 
can  make  laws?  Can  treaties  be  more  faithfully  enforced  between  aliens 
than  laws  can  among  friends?  Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  cannot  fight 
always;  and  when,  after  much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain  on  either, 
you  cease  fighting,  the  identical  old  questions,  as  to  terms  of  intercourse, 
are  again  upon  you." 

There  is  no  line,  straight  or  crooked,  suitable  for  a  national  boundary, 
apon  which  to  divide.  Trace  through,  from  east  to  west,  upon  the  line 
between  the  free  and  slave  country,  and  we  shall  find  a  little  more  than 
•>ne-third  of  its  length  are  rivers,  easy  to  be  crossed,  and  populated,  01 
soon  to  be  populated,  thickly  upon  both  sides;  while  nearly  all  its  re 
maining  length  are  merely  surveyors'  lines,  over  which  people  may  walk 
back  and  forth  without  any  consciousness  of  their  presence.  No  part  of 
Dim  line  can  be  made  any  more  difficult  to  pass  by  writing  it  down  or 
ftper  or  parchment  as  a  national  boundary,    '£hd  fact  of  separation*  if  i* 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  353 

cones,  tiveo  up,  on  the  part  of  the  seceding  section,  the  fugitive  slave 
clause,  aiong  "with  all  other  constitutional  obligations  upon  the  section 
seceded  from,  while  I  should  expect  no  treaty  stipulation  would  ever  be 
made  to  take  its  place. 

But  there  is  another  difficulty.  The  great  interior  region,  bounded  east 
by  the  Alleghanies,  north  by  the  British  dominions,  west  by  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  south  by  the  line  along  which  the  culture  of  corn  and 
cottoa  meets,  and  which  includes  part  of  Virginia,  part  of  Tennessee,  all 
of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Misscnri, 
Kansas,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  the  Territories  of  Dakota,  Nebraska,  and 
part  of  Colorado,  already  has  above  ten  millions  of  people,  and  will  havo 
fifty  millions  within  fifty  years,  if  not  prevented  by  any  political  folly  or 
mistake.  It  contains  more  than  one-third  of  the  country  owned  by  the 
United  Scales — certainly  more  than  one  million  of  square  miles.  Onco 
half  as  populous  as  Massachusetts  already  is.  it  would  have  more  than 
seventy-five  millions  of  people.  A  glance  at  the  map  shows  that,  terri- 
torially speaking,  it  is  the  great  body  of  the  Republic.  The  other  parts 
are  but  marginal  borders  to  it,  the  magnificent  region  sloping  west  from 
the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific  being  the  deepest,  and  also  the  richest 
In  undeveloped  resources.  In  the  production  of  provisions,  grains,  grasses, 
and  all  which  proceed  from  them,  this  great  interior  region  is  naturally 
one  of  the  most  important  of  the  world.  Ascertain  from  the  statistics  the 
small  propoition  of  the  region  which  has  as  yet  been  brought  into  culti- 
vation, and  also  the  large  and  rapidly  increasing  amount  of  its  products, 
and  we  shall  be  overwhelmed  with  the  magnitude  of  the  prospect  pre 
sented.  And  yet  this  region  has  no  sea-coast — touches  no  ocean  any- 
where. As  part  of  one  nation,  its  people  now  find,  and  may  forever  find, 
their  way  to  Europe  by  New  York,  to  South  America  and  Africa  by  New 
Orleans,  and  to  Asia  by  San  Francisco.  But  separate  our  common  coun- 
try into  two  nations,  as  designed  by  the  present  rebellion,  and  every  man 
of  this  great  interior  region  is  thereby  cut  off  from  some  one  or  more  of 
these  outlets,  not  perhaps  by  a  physical  barrier,  but  by  embarrassing  and 
onerous  trade  regulations. 

And  this  is  true,  wherever  a  dividing  or  boundary  line  may  be  fixe << 
Place  it  between  the  now  free  and  slave  country,  or  place  it  south 
Kentucky,  or  north  of  Ohio,  and  still  the  truth  remains  that  none  soui; 
of  it  can  trade  to  any  port  or  place  north  of  it,  and  none  north  of  it  can 
trade  to  any  port  or  place  south  of  it,  except  upon  terms  dictated  by  a 
Government  foreign  to  them.  These  outlets,  east,  west,  and  south,  are 
indispensable  to  the  well-being  of  the  people  inhabiting  and  to  inhabit 
this  vast  interior  region.  Which  of  the  three  may  be  the  best  is  no 
proper  question.  All  are  better  than  either,  and  all  of  right  belong 
to  that  people  and  to  their  successors  forever.  True  to  themselves, 
they  will  not  ask  where  a  line  of  separation  shall  be,  but  will  vow 
rather  that  there  shall  be  no  such  line.  Nor  are  the  marginal  regiom 
lees  interested  in  these  communications  to  and  through  them  to  the  great 
23 


354  The  Life,  Public  Services  and 

outside  world.  They  too,  and  each  of  thein,  must  have  access  to  ihU 
Egypt  of  the  West,  without  paying  toll  at  the  crossing  of  any  national 
boundary. 

Our  national  strife  springs  not  from  our  permanent  part;  not  from  the 
land  we  inhabit;  not  from  our  national  homestead.  There  is  no  possible 
severing  of  this,  but  would  multiply  and  not  mitigate  evils  among  us.  Ip 
ail  its  adaptations  and  aptitudes  it  demands  union  and  abhors  separation 
In  fact,  it  would  ere  long  force  reunion,  however  much  of  blood  and 
treasure  the  separation  might  have  cost. 

Onr  strife  pertains  to  ourselves — to  the  passing  generations  of  men ; 
and  it  can,  without  convulsion,  be  hushed  forever  with  the  passing  of  one 
generation. 

In  tnis  view,  I  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution  and 
articles  amendatory  to  the  Constitution  of  l*he  United  States  : — 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  Rouse  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled  (two-thirds  of  both  Houses  con 
curring),  That  the  following  articles  be  proposed  to  the  Legislatures  (or 
Conventions)  of  the  several  States  as  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  all  or  any  of  which  articles,  when  ratified  by  three- 
fourths  of  the  said  Legislatures  (or  Conventions),  to  be  valid  as  part  or 
parts  of  the  said  Constitution,  viz. : — 

Aktiole. — Every  State,  wherein  slavery  now  exists,  which  shall  abolisn 
the  same  therein  at  any  time  or  times  before  the  first  day  of  January,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  and  nine  hundred,  shall  receive  com- 
pensation from  the  United  States  as  follows,  to  wit : 

The  President  of  the  United  States  shall  deliver  to  every  such  State 

bonds  of  the  United  States,  bearing  interest  at  the  rate  of per  cent. 

per  annum,  to  an  amount  equal  to  the  aggregate  sum  of for  each 

slave  shown  to  have  been  therein  by  the  eighth  census  of  the  United 
States,  said  bonds  to  be  delivered  to  such  State  by  instalments,  or  in  one 
parcel,  at  the  completion  of  the  abolishment,  accordingly  as  the  same 
shall  have  been  gradual,  or  at  one  time,  within  such  State;  and  interest 
shall  begin  to  run  upon  any  such  bond  only  from  the  proper  time  of  its 
delivery  as  aforesaid.  Any  State  having  received  bonds  as  aforesaid,  and 
afterwards  reintroducing  or  tolerating  slavery  therein,  shall  refund  to  the 
United  States  the  bonds  so  received,  or  the  value  thereof,  and  all  interest 
paid  thereon. 

3  Article. — All  slaves  who  shall  have  enjoyed  actual  treedom  by  the 
(-  ances  of  the  war,  at  any  time  before  the  end  of  the  rebellion,  shall  be 
i  ever  free;  but  all  owners  of  such,  who  shall  not  have  been  disloyal, 
shall  be  compensated  for  them  at  the  same  rates  as  is  provided  for  States 
adopting  abolishment  of  slavery,  but  in  such  way  that  no  slave  shall  be 
twice  accounted  for. 

Article. — Congress  may  appropriate  money,  and  otherwise  provide 
for  colonizing  free  colored  persons,  with  their  own  consent,  at  any  place 
or  places  without  the  United  States. 

I  beg  indulgence  to  discuss  these  proposed  articles  at  some  length. 
Without  slavery  the  rebellion  could  never  have  existed ;  without  slavery 
it  cotud  not  continue. 

Among  the  friends  of  the  Union  thero  is  great  diversity  of  senti^eat 
I         I      -    \* 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  355 

and  of  policy  in  regard  to  slavery  and  the  African  race  amongst  us 
Bome  would  perpetuate  .slavery;  some  would  abolish  it  suddenly,  and 
without  compensation ;  some  would  abolish  it  gradually,  and  with  com- 
pensation; some  would  remove  the  freed  people  from  us,  and  some 
would  retain  them  with  us:  and  there  are  yet  other  minor  diversities. 
Because  of  these  diversities  we  waste  much  strength  among  ourselves. 
By  mutual  concession  we  should  harmonize  and  act  together.  This 
would  be  compromise;  but  it  would  be  compromise  among  the  friends, 
and  not  with  the  enemies  of  the  Union.  These  articles  are  intended  to 
embody  a  plan  of  such  mutual  concessions.  If  the  plan  shall  be  adopted, 
it  is  assumed  that  emancipation  will  follow  in  at  least  several  :f  the 
States. 

As  to  the  first  article,  the  main  points  are :  first,  the  emancipation ; 
secondly,  the  length  of  time  for  consummating  it — thirty -seven  years; 
and,  thirdly,  the  compensation. 

The  emancipation  will  be  unsatisfactory  to  the  advocates  of  perpetual 
slavery ;  but  the  length  of  time  should  greatly  mitigate  their  dissatisfac- 
tion. The  time  spares  both  races  from  the  evils  of  sudden  derangement 
— in  fact,  from  the  necessity  of  any  derangement;  while  most  of  those 
whose  habitual  course  of  thought  will  be  disturbed  by  the  measure  will 
have  passed  away  before  its  consummation.  They  will  never  see  it. 
Another  class  will  hail  the  prospect  of  emancipation,  but  will  deprecate 
the  length  of  time.  They  will  feel  that  it  gives  too  little  to  the  now  liv- 
ing slaves.  But  it  really  gives  them  much.  It  saves  them  from  the  vagrant 
destitution  which  must  largely  attend  immediate  emancipation  in  localities 
where  their  numbers  are  very  great;  and  it  gives  the  inspiring  assurano 
that  their  posterity  shall  be  free  forever.  The  plan  leaves  to  each  State 
choosing  to  act  under  it,  to  abolish  slavery  now,  or  at  the  end  of  the  cen- 
tury, or  at  any  intermediate  time,  or  by  degrees,  extending  over  the  whole 
or  any  part  of  the  period  ;  and  it  obliges  no  two  States  to  proceed  alike. 
It  also  provides  for  compensation,  and  generally  the  mode  of  making  it. 
This,  it  would  seem,  must  further  mitigate  the  dissatisfaction  of  those  who 
favor  perpetual  slavery,  and  especially  of  those  who  are  to  receive  tJi« 
y compensation.  Doubtless  some  of  those  who  are  to  pay  and  not  receive 
will  object.  Yet  the  measure  is  both  just  and  economical.  In  a  certain 
sense  the  liberation  of  slaves  is  the  destruction  of  property — property 
acquired  by  descent  or  by  purchase,  the  same  as  any  other  property.  It 
is  no  less  true  for  having  been  often  said,  that  the  people  of  the  South  are 
not  more  responsible  for  the  original  introduction  of  this  property  than 
are  the  people  of  the  North ;  and  when  it  is  remembered  how  unhesitat- 
ingly we  all  use  cotton  and  sugar,  and  share  the  profits  of  dealing  in  them, 
it  may  not  be  quite  safe  to  say  that  the  South  has  been  more  respon- 
sible than  the  North  for  its  continuance.  If,  then,  for  a  common  object 
this  property  is  to  be  sacrificed,  is  it  not  just  that  it  be  done  at  a  common 
charge  ? 

A.nd  if  with  less  money,  01  money  more  easily  paid,  we  can  preserve 

>       /      ; 


356  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

the  benefits  of  the  Fnion  by  this  means  than  we  can  by  the  war  alone,  is 
it  not  also  economical  to  do  it?  Let  us  consider  it,  then.  Let  ns  ascer- 
tain the  sum  we  have  expended  in  the  war  since  compensated  emancipation 
was  proposed  last  March,  and  consider  whether,  if  that  measure  had  teen 
promptly  accepted  by  even  some  of  the  slave  States,  the  same  sum  wc  uld 
not  have  done  more  to  close  the  war  than  has  been  otherwise  done.  If 
so,  the  measure  would  save  money,  and,  in  that  view,  would  be  a  prud  ent 
and  economical  measure.  Certainly  it  is  not  so  easy  to  pay  somett  .njj  as 
it  is  pay  nothing ;  but  it  is  easier  to  pay  a  large  sum  than  it  is  to  nay  t 
larger  one.  And  it  is  easier  to  pay  any  sum  when  we  are  able,  than  it  is 
to  pay  it  before  we  are  able.  The  war  requires  large  sums,  and  requires 
them  at  once.  The  aggregate  sum  necessary  for  compensated  emancipa- 
tion of  course  would  bo  large.  But  it  would  require  no  ready  cash,  nor 
the  bonds  even,  any  faster  than  the  emancipation  progresses.  This  might 
not,  and  probably  would  not,  close  before  the  end  of  the  thirty-seven 
years.  At  that  time  we  shall  probably  have  a  hundred  millions  of  people 
to  share  the  burden,  instead  of  thirty-one  millions,  as  now.  And  not  only 
so,  but  the  increase  of  our  population  may  be  expected  to  continue  for  & 
long  time  after  that  period  as  rapidly  as  before ;  because  our  territory  will 
not  have  become  full.     I  do  no  state  this  inconsiderately. 

At  the  same  ratio  of  increase  which  we  have  maintained,  on  an  average 
from  our  first  national  census,  in  1790,  until  that  of  1860,  we  should,  in 
1900,  have  a  population  of  one  hundred  and  three  million  two  hundred 
and  eight  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifteen.  And  why  may  we  not  con 
tinue  that  ratio — far  beyond  that  period  ?  Our  abundant  room — our  broad 
national  homestead — is  our  ample  resource.  Were  our  territory  as  limited 
as  are  the  British  Isles,  very  certainly  our  population  could  not  expand  as 
stated.  Instead  of  receiving  the  foreign  born  as  now,  we  should  be  com- 
pelled to  send  part  of  the  native  born  away.  But  such  is  not  our  condi- 
tion. We  have  two  million  nine  hundred  and  sixty-three  thousand 
square  miles.  Europe  has  three  million  and  eight  hundred  thousand, 
with  a  population  averaging  seventy-three  and  one-third  persons  to  the 
•quare  mile.  Why  may  not  our  country  at  some  time  average  as  many  f 
Is  it  less  fertile  ?  Has  it  mc  re  waste  surface,  by  mountains,  rivers,  lakes, 
deserts,  or  other  causes  ?  Is  it  inferior  to  Europe  in  any  natural  advan- 
tage? If  then  we  are,  at  some  time,  to  be  as  populous  as  Europe,  how 
■oon  ?  As  to  when  this  may  be,  we  can  judge  by  the  past  and  the  present ; 
as  to  when  it  will  be,  if  ever,  depends  much  on  whether  we  maintain  the 
Union.  Several  of  our  States  are  already  above  the  average  of  Europe — 
seventy-three  and  a  third  to  the  square  mile.  Massachusetts  one  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  ;  Ehode  Island  one  hundred  and  thirty-three ;  Connecticut 
ninety-nine ;  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  each  eighty.  Also  two  other 
great  States,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  are  not  far  below,  the  former  having 
sixty-three  and  the  latter  fifty-nine.  The  States  already  above  the 
European  average,  except  New  York,  have  increased  in  as  rapid  a  ratio, 
sinoe  passing  that  point,  as  ever  before ;  while  no  one  of  them  is  equal  to 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  357 

some  other  parte  of  our  country  in  natural  capacity  for  sustaining  a  dente 
population. 

Taking  the  nation  in  the  aggregate,  and  we  find  its  population  and  ratio 
of  increase,  for  the  several  decennial  periods,  to  be  as  follows  — 

1799 3,929,827 

1800 5,-305,937  35.02  per  cent,  ratio  of  increase 

1810 7,239,814  36.45  "  "  « 

1820 9,638,131  33.13  "  "  « 

!830 12,866,020  33.49  "  "  « 

1840 17,069,453  32.67  "  "  " 

1850 23,191,876  35.87  "  "  " 

1860 31,443,790  35.58  "  u  " 

This  shows  an  average  decennial  increase  of  34.60  per  cent,  in  popuia 
tion  through  the  seventy  years,  from  our  first  to  our  last  census  yet  take* . 
It  is  seen  that  the  ratio  of  increase,  at  no  one  of  these  two  periods,  ig 
either  two  per  cent,  below  or  two  per  cent,  above  the  average ;  thus  show- 
ing how  inflexible,  and  consequently  how  reliable,  the  law  of  increase  in 
our  case  is.  Assuming  that  it  will  continue,  it  gives  the  following  re- 
sults : — 

1870 42,523,341 

1880 56,967,216 

1890 76,677,872 

1900 103,208,415 

1910 138,918,526 

1920 186,984,335 

1930 251,680,914 

These  figures  show  that  our  country  may  be  as  populous  as  Europe  now 
is  at  some  point  between  1920  and  1930— say  about  1925 — our  territory, 
at  seventy -three  and  a  third  persons  to  the  square  mile,  being  of  capacity 
to  contain  two  hundred  and  seventeen  million  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
fix  thousand. 

And  we  will  reach  this,  too,  if  we  do  not  ourselves  relinquish  the  chaae^ 
ty  the  folly  and  evils  of  disunion,  or  by  long  and  exhausting  wars  spring- 
ing from  the  only  great  element  of  national  discord  among  us.  While  it 
cannot  be  foreseen  exactly  how  much  one  huge  example  of  secession, 
breeding  lesser  ones  indefinitely,  would  retard  population,  civilization,  and 
prosperity,  no  one  can  doubt  that  the  extent  of  it  would  be  very  great  and 
injurious. 

The  proposed  emancipation  would  shorten  the  war,  perpetuate  peace, 
insure  this  increase  of  population,  and  proportionately  the  wealth  of  the 
country.  With  these  we  should  pay  all  the  emancipation  would  cost, 
together  with  our  other  debt,  easier  than  we  should  pay  our  other  debt  with- 
out it.  If  we  had  allowed  our  old  national  debt  to  run  at  six  per  cent,  per 
annum,  simple  interest,  from  the  end  of  our  Revolutionary  struggle  wtil 
to-day,  without  paying  anything  on  either  principal  or  interest,  each  tunc 
of  us  would  owe  lew  upon  that  <fobt  now  than  each  man  owa4  Ui>ou  it 

C 


358  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

then;  and  this  because  our  increase  of  men,  through  the  whole  Teriod, 
has  been  greater  than  six  per  cent.;  has  run  faster  than  the  interest  upon 
the  debt.  Thus,  time  alone  relieves  a  debtor  nation,  so  long  as  its  popu- 
lation increases  faster  than  unpaid  interest  accumulates  on  its  debt. 

This  fact  would  be  no  excuse  for  delaying  payment  of  what  is  justly 
due ;  but  it  shows  the  great  importance  of  time  in  this  connection — the 
great  advantage  of  a  policy  by  which  we  shall  not  have  to  pay  until  we 
number  a  hundred  millions,  what,  by  a  different  policy,  we  wo-ild  have  to 
now,  when  we  number  but  thirty-one  millions.  In  a  word,  u  ehows  thg 
%  dollar  will  be  much  harder  to  pay  for  the  war  than  will  be  a  dollar  for  tli 
emancipation  on  the  proposed  plan.  And  then  the  latter  will  cost  no 
Mood,  no  precious  life.     It  will  be  a  saving  of  both. 

As  to  the  second  article,  I  think  it  would  be  impracticable  to  return  to 
bondage  the  class  of  persons  therein  contemplated.  Some  of  them,  doubt- 
less, in  the  property  sense,  belong  to  loyal  owners;  and  hence  provision 
is  made  in  this  article  for  compensating  such. 

The  third  article  relates  to  the  future  of  the  freed  people.  It  does  not 
oblige,  but  merely  authorizes  Congress  to  aid  in  colonizing  such  as  may 
consent.  This  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  objectionable  on  the  one  hand  or 
on  the  other,  insomuch  as  it  comes  to  nothing  unless  by  the  mutual  con 
sent  of  the  people  to  be  deported,  and  the  American  voters,  through  theii 
representatives  in  Congress. 

I  cannot  make  it  better  known  than  it  already  is,  that  I  strongly  favor 
colonization.  And  yet  I  wish  to  say  there  is  an  objection  urged  against 
free  colored  persons  remaining  in  the  country  which  is  largely  imaginary, 
if  not  sometimes  malicious. 

It  is  insisted  that  their  presence  would  injure  and  displace  white  labor 
and  white  laborers.  If  there  ever  could  be  a  proper  time  for  mere  catch 
arguments,  that  time  surely  is  not  now.  In  times  like  the  present  men 
should  utter  nothing  for  which  they  would  not  willingly  be  responsible 
through  time  and  in  eternity.  Is  it  true,  then,  that  colored  people  can 
displace  anymore  white  labor  by  being  free  than  by  remaining  slaves? 
If  tbey  stay  in  their  old  places,  they  jostle  no  white  laborers ;  if  they  leave 
O.eir  old  places,  they  leave  them  open  to  white  laborers.  Logically,  there 
is  nether  more  nor  less  of  it.  Emancipation,  even  without  deportation, 
would  probably  enhance  the  wages  of  white  labor,  and,  very  surely,  would 
cot  reduce  them.  Thus  the  customary  amount  of  labor  would  still  have 
to  be  performed — the  freed  people  would  surely  not  do  more  than  their 
old  proportion  of  it,  and  very  probably  for  a  time  would  do  less,  leaving 
an  increased  part  to  white  laborers,  bringing  their  labor  into  greater 
demand,  and  consequently  enhancing  the  wages  of  it.  With  deportation, 
even  to  a  limited  extent,  enhanced  wages  to  white  labor  is  mathematically 
pertain.  Labor  is  like  any  other  commodity  in  the  market — increase  the 
demand  for  it  and  you  increase  the  price  of  it.  Reduce  the  supply  of 
Mack  i.iior,  by  colonizing  the  black  laborer  out  of  the  country,  and  by 
preei^ly  bo  much  you  Increase  the  demand  for  and  wages  of  white  labor 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  359 

But  it  h  dreaded  that  the  freed  people  will  swarm  forth  and  coTet  the 
whole  land!  Are  they  not  already  in  the  land?  Will  liberation  make 
them  any  more  numerous  ?  Equally  distributed  among  the  whites  of  the 
whole  country,  and  there  would  be  but  one  colored  to  seven  whites. 
Could  the  one,  in  any  way,  greatly  disturb  the  seven?  There  are  many 
communities  now  having  more-  than  one  free  colored  person  to  seven 
whites ;  and  this,  without  any  apparent  consciousness  of  evil  from  it. 
The  District  of  Columbia  and  the  States  of  Maryland  and  Delaware  are 
all  in  this  condition.  The  District  has  more  than  one  free  colored  to  six 
whites;  and  yet,  in  its  frequent  petitions  to  Congress,  I  believe  it  has 
never  presented  the  presence  of  free  colored  persons  as  one  of  its  griev- 
ances. But  why  should  emancipation  South  send  the  freed  people  North? 
People  of  any  color  seldom  run  unless  there  be  something  to  run  from 
Heretofore  colored  people  to  some  extent  have  fled  North  from  bondage ; 
and  now,  perhaps,  from  bondage  and  destitution.  But  if  gradual  eman- 
cipation and  deportation  be  adopted,  they  will  have  neither  to  flee  from. 
Their  old  masters  will  give  them  wages  at  least  until  new  laborers  can  be 
procured,  and  the  freedmen  in  turn  will  gladly  give  their  labor  for  the 
wages  till  new  homes  can  be  found  for  them  in  congenial  climes  and  with 
people  of  their  own  blood  and  race.  This  proposition  can  be  trusted  on 
the  mutual  interests  involved.  And  in  any  event,  cannot  the  North  de- 
cide for  itself  whether  to  receive  them  ? 

Again,  as  practice  proves  more  than  theory,  in  any  case,  has  there  been 
any  irruption  of  colored  people  northward  because  of  the  abolishment 
cf  slavery  in  this  District  last  spring? 

What  I  have  said  of  the  proportion  of  free  colored  persons  to  the 
whites  in  the  District  is  from  the  census  of  1880,  having  no  reference  to 
persons  called  contrabands,  nor  to  those  made  free  by  the  act  of  Congress 
abolishing  slavery  here. 

The  plan  consisting  of  these  articles  is  recommended,  not  but  that  a 
restoration  of  national  authority  would  be  accepted  without  its  adoption. 

Nor  will  the  war,  nor  proceedings  under  the  proclamation  of  Septem- 
ber 22,  1862,  be  stayed  because  of  the  recommendation  of  this  plan.  Its 
timely  adoption,  I  doubt  not,  would  bring  restoration,  and  thereby  stay 
both. 

And,  notwithstanding  this  plan,  the  recommendation  that  Congress 
provide  by  law  for  compensating  any  State  which  may  adopt  emancipa- 
tion before  this  plan  shall  have  been  acted  upon,  is  hereby  earnestly  re- 
newed. Such  would  be  only  an  advanced  part  of  the  plan,  and  the  same 
arguments  apply  to  both. 

This  plan  is  recommended  as  a  means,  not  in  exclusion  of,  but  addi- 
tional to,  all  others  for  restoring  and  preserving  the  national  authority 
throughout  the  Union.  The  subject  is  presented  exclusively  in  its  eco- 
Qomical  aspect.  The  plan  would,  I  am  confident,  secure  peace  mure 
speedily,  and  maintain  it  more  permanently,  than  can  be  done  by  force 
alone;  while  all  it  would  coat,  considering  amounts,  and  manner  of  pay 


360  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

merit,  and  times  of  payment,  would  be  easier  paid  than  will  be  the  add! 
tional  cost  of  the  war,  if  we  solely  rely  upon  force.  It  is  much — very 
much — that  it  would  cost  no  blood  at  all. 

The  plan  is  proposed  as  permanent  constitutional  law.  It  cannot  be- 
come such,  without  the  concurrence  of,  first,  two-thirds  of  Congress,  and 
afterwards  three-fourths  of  the  States.  The  requisite  three-fourths  of  the 
States  will  necessarily  include  seven  of  the  slave  States.  Their  concur- 
rence, if  obtained,  will  give  assurance  of  their  severally  adopting  eman- 
cipation, at  no  very  distant  day,  upon  the  new  constitutional  terms,  This 
assurance  would  end  the  struggle  now,  and  save  the  Union  forever. 

I  do  not  forget  the  gravity  which  should  characterize  a  paper  addressed 
to  the  Congress  of  the  nation  by  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation.  K  or 
do  I  forget  that  some  of  you  are  my  seniors ;  nor  that  many  of  you  have 
more  experience  than  I  in  the  conduct  of  publie  affairs.  Yet  I  trust  that, 
m  view  of  the  great  responsibility  resting  upon  me,  you  will  perceive  no 
want  of  respect  to  yourselves  in  any  undue  earnestness  I  may  seem  to 
display. 

Is  it  doubted,  then,  that  the  plan  I  propose,  if  adopted,  would  shorten 
the  war,  and  thus  lessen  its  expenditure  of  money  and  of  blood?  Is  it 
doubted  that  it  would  restore  the  national  authority  and  national  pros- 
perity, and  perpetuate  both  indefinitely  ?  Is  it  doubted  that  we  here — 
Congress  and  Executive — can  secure  its  adoption  ?  Will  not  the  good 
people  respond  to  a  united  and  earnest  appeal  from  us  ?  Can  we,  can 
they,  by  any  other  means,  so  certainly  or  so  speedily  assure  these  vital 
objects?  We  can  succeed  only  by  concert.  It  is  not  "  Can  any  of  us  ima- 
gine better?"  but  "Can  we  all  do  better?"  Object  whatsoever  is  possible, 
still  the  question  recurs,  "  Can  we  do  better?"  The  dogmas  of  the  quiet 
past  are  inadequate  to  the  stormy  present.  The  occasion  is  piled  high 
with  difficulty,  and  we  must  rise  with  the  occasion.  As  our  case  is  new, 
so  we  must  think  anew,  and  act  anew.  We  must  disinthrall  ourselves, 
and  then  we  shall  save  our  country. 

Fellow-citizens,  we  cannot  escape  history.  We  of  this  Congress  and 
this  Administration  will  be  remembered  in  spite  of  ourselves.  No  per- 
sonal significance  or  insignificance  can  spare  one  or  another  of  us.  The 
fiery  trial  through  which  we  pass  will  light  us  down  in  honor  or  dishonor 
to  the  latest  generation.  We  say  that  we  are  for  the  Union.  The  world 
will  not  forget  that  we  say  this.  We  know  how  to  save  the  Union.  The 
world  knows  we  do  know  how  to  save  it.  We — even  we  here— hold  the 
power  and  bear  the  responsibility.  In  giving  freedom  to  the  slave  we  as- 
sure freedom  to  the  free — honorable  alike  in  what  we  give  and  what  we 
preserve.  We  shall  nobly  save  or  meanly  lose  the  last  best  hope  of  earth. 
Other  means  may  succeed  ;  this  could  not,  cannot  fail.  The  way  is  plain, 
peaceful,  generous,  just — a  way  which,  if  followed,  the  world  will  forevei 
applaud,  and  God  must  forever  Mess.  Abraham  Lincoln. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  361 

At  the  very  outset  of  the  session,  resolutions  were  in- 
troduced by  the  opponents  of  the  Administration,  censur- 
ing, in  strong  terms,  its  arrest  of  individuals  in  the  loyal 
States,  suspected  of  giving,  or  intending  to  give,  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  rebellion.  These  arrests  were  denounced 
as  utterly  unwarranted  "by  the  Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States,  and  as  involving  the  subversion  of  the 
public  liberties.  In  the  Senate,  the  general  subject  was 
discussed  in  a  debate,  commencing  on  the  8th  of  Decem- 
ber, the  opponents  of  the  Administration  setting  forth 
very  fully  and  very  strongly  their  opinion  of  the  unjusti- 
fiable nature  of  this  action,  and  its  friends  vindicating  it, 
as  made  absolutely  necessary  by  the  emergencies  of  the 
case.  Every  department  of  the  Government,  and  every 
section  of  the  country,  were  filled  at  the  outset  of  the  war 
with  men  actively  engaged  in  doing  the  work  of  spies 
and  informers  for  the  rebel  authorities  ;  and  it  was  known 
that,  in  repeated  instances,  the  plans  and  purposes  of  the 
Government  had  been  betrayed  and  defeated  by  these 
aiders  and  abettors  of  treason.  It  became  absolutely 
necessary,  not  for  purposes  of  punishment,  but  of  preven 
tion,  to  arrest  these  men  in  the  injurious  and  perhaps 
fatal  action  they  were  preparing  to  take  ;  and  on  this 
ground  the  action  of  the  Government  was  vindicated  and 
justified  by  the  Senate.  On  the  8th  of  December,  in  th^ 
House  of  Representatives,  a  bill  was  introduced,  declaring 
the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  to  have  been 
required  by  the  public  safety  ;  confirming  and  declaring 
ralid  all  arrests  and  imprisonments,  by  whomsoever 
made  or  caused  to  be  made,  under  the  authority  of  the 
President ;  and  indemnifying  the  President,  secretaries, 
heads  of  departments,  and  all  persons  who  have  been 
concerned  in  making  such  arrests,  or  in  doing  or  advising 
any  such  acts,  and  making  void  all  prosecutions  and  pro- 
ceedings whatever  against  them  in  relation  to  the  matters 
in  question.  It  also  authorized  the  President,  during  the 
existence  of  the  war,  to  declare  the  suspension  of  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus,  "at  such  times,  and  in  such  places, 
and  with  regard  to  such  persons,  as  in  his  judgment  the 


862  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

public  safe t j  may  require."  This  bill  was  passed,  receiv- 
ing ninety  votes  in  its  favor,  and  forty-live  against  it.  It 
was  taken  up  in  tlie  Senate  on  the  22d  of  December,  and 
after  a  discussion  of  several  days,  a  new  bill  was  substi- 
tuted and  passed  ;  ayes  33,  noes  7.  This  was  taken  up 
in  the  House  on  the  18th  of  February,  and  the  substitute 
of  the  Senate  was  rejected.  This  led  to  the  appointment 
of  a  committee  of  conference,  which  recommended  that 
the  Senate  recede  from  its  amendments,  and  that  the  bill, 
substantially  as  it  came  from  the  House,  be  passed.  This 
report  was  agreed  to  after  long  debate,  and  the  bill  thus 
became  a  law. 

The  relations  in  which  the  rebel  States  were  placed  by 
their  acts  of  secession  towards  the  General  Government 
became  a  topic  of  discusion  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, in  a  debate  which  arose  on  the  8th  of  January,  upon 
an  item  in  the  Appropriation  Bill,  limiting  the  amount  to 
be  paid  to  certain  commissioners  to  the  amount  that  might 
be  collected  from  taxes  in  the  insurrectionary  States.  Mr. 
Stevens,  of  Pennsylvania,  pronounced  the  opinion  that 
the  Constitution  did  not  embrace  a  State  that  was  in  arms 
against  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  He  maintain- 
ed that  those  States  held  towards  us  the  position  of  alien 
enemies — that  every  obligation  existing  between  them  and 
us.  had  been  annulled,  and  that  with  regard  to  all  the 
Southern  States  in  rebellion,  the  Constitution  has  no  bind- 
ing force  and  no  application.  This  position  was  very 
strongly  controverted  by  men  of  both  parties.  Those  who 
were  not  in  full  sympathy  with  the  Administration  opposed 
it,  because  it  denied  to  the  Southern  people  the  protection 
of  the  Constitution  ;  while  many  Republicans  regarded  it 
as  a  virtual  acknowledgment  of  the  validity  and  actual 
force  of  the  ordinances  of  secession  passed  by  the  Rebel 
States.  Mr.  Thomas,  of  Massachusetts,  expressed  the 
6entiment  of  the  latter  class  very  clearly  when  he  said 
that  one  object  of  the  bill  under  discussion  was  to  impose 
a  tax  upon  States  in  rebellion — that  our  only  authority 
for  so  doing  was  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States — 
and  that  we  could  only  do  it  on  the  ground  that  the  author- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  363 

ity  of  the  Government  over  those  States  is  just  as  valid 
now  as  it  was  before  the  acts  of  secession  were  passed, 
and  that  every  one  of  those  acts  is  utterly  null  and  void. 
No  vote  was  taken  which  declared  directly  the  opinion 
of  the  House  on  the  theoretical  question  thus  involved. 

The  employment  of  negroes  as  soldiers  was  subjected  to 
a  vigorous  discussion,  started  on  the  27th  of  January,  by 
an  amendment  offered  to  a  pending  bill  by  Mr.  Stevens, 
directing  the  President  to  raise,  arm,  and  equip  as  many 
volunteers  of  African  descent  as  he  might  deem  useful, 
for  such  term  of  service  as  he  might  think  proper,  not 
exceeding  five  years — to  be  officered  by  white  or  black 
persons,  in  the  President's  discretion — slaves  to  be  accept- 
ed as  well  as  freemen.  The  members  from  the  Bordei 
States  opposed  this  proposition  with  great  earnestness,  aa 
certain  to  do  great  harm  to  the  Union  cause  among  their  con- 
stituents, by  arousing  prejudices  which,  whether  reason- 
able or  not,  were  very  strong,  and  against  which  argument 
would  be  found  utterly  unavailing.  Mr.  Crittenden,  of 
Kentucky,  objected  to  it  mainly  because  it  would  convert 
the  war  against  the  rebellion  into  a  servile  war,  and  es- 
tablish abolition  as  the  main  end  for  which  the  war  was 
carried  on.  Mr.  Sedgwick,  of  New  York,  vindicated  the 
policy  suggested,  as  having  been  dictated  rather  by  neces- 
sity than  choice.  He  pointed  out  the  various  steps  by 
which  the  President,  as  the  responsible  head  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, had  endeavored  to  prosecute  the  war  success- 
fully without  interfering  with  slavery,  and  showed  also 
how  the  refusal  of  the  Rebel  States  to  return  to  their 
allegiance  had  compelled  him  to  advance,  step  by  step, 
to  the  more  rigorous  and  effective  policy  which  had  now 
become  inevitable.  After  considerable  further  discussion, 
the  bill,  embodying  substantially  the  amendment  of  Mr. 
Stevens,  was  passed  ;  ayes  83,  noes  54.  On  reaching  the 
Senate  it  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 
which,  on  the  12th  of  February,  reported  against  its  pas- 
sage, on  the  ground  that  the  autherity  which  it  was  in- 
tended to  confer  upon  the  President  was  already  sufficient- 
ly granted  in  the  act  of  the  previous  session,  approved 


364  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

July  17,  1862,  which  authorized  the  President  to  employ, 
in  any  military  or  naval  service  for  which  they  might  "be 
found  competent,  persons  of  African  descent. 

One  of  the  most  important  acts  of  the  session  was  that 
which  provided  for  the  creation  of  a  national  force  "by 
enrolling  and  drafting  the  militia  of  the  whole  country — 
each  State  "being  required  to  contribute  its  quota  in  the 
ratio  of  its  population,  and  the  whole  force,  when  raised, 
to  Ibe  under  the  control  of  the  President.  Some  measure 
of  the  kind  seemed  to  have  been  rendered  absolutely  ne- 
cessary by  the  revival  of  party  spirit  throughout  the  loyal 
States,  and  by  the  active  and  effective  efforts  made  by 
the  Democratic  party,  emboldened  by  the  results  of  the 
fall  elections  of  1862,  to  discourage  and  prevent  volunteer- 
ing. So  successful  had  they  been  in  this  work,  that  the 
Government  seemed  likely  to  fail  in  its  efforts  to  raise 
men  for  another  campaign  ;  and  it  was  to  avert  this  threat- 
ening evil  that  the  bill  in  question  was  brought  forward 
for  the  action  of  Congress.  It  encountered  a  violent  resist- 
ance from  the  opposition  party,  and  especially  from  those 
members  whose  sympathies  with  the  secessionists  were 
the  most  distinctly  marked.  But  after  the  rejection  of 
numerous  amendments,  more  or  less  affecting  its  character 
and  force,  it  was  passed  in  the  Senate,  and  taken  up  on 
the  23d  of  February  in  the  House,  where  it  encountered 
a  similar  ordeal.  It  contained  various  provisions  for 
exempting  from  service  persons  upon  whom  others  wer* 
most  directly  and  entirely  dependent  for  support — such  en. 
the  only  son  of  a  widow,  the  only  son  of  aged  and  infirm 
parents  who  relied  upon  him  for  a  maintenance,  &c.  It 
allowed  drafted  persons  to  procure  substitutes ;  and,  to 
cover  the  cases  in  which  the  prices  of  substitutes  might 
become  exorbitant,  it  also  provided  that  upon  payment 
of  three  hundred  dollars  the  Government  itself  would 
procure  a  substitute,  and  release  the  person  drafted  from 
service.  The  bill  was  passed  in  the  House,  with  some 
amendments,  by  a  vote  of  115  to  49 ;  and  the  amendments 
being  concurred  in  by  the  Senate,  the  bill  became  a  law, 

One  section  of  this  act  required  the  President  to  issue 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  365 

a  proclamation  offering  an  amnesty  to  deserters,  and  he 
accordingly  issued  it,  in  the  following  words  :— 

A  PKOCLAMATTON. 
By  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

Executive  Mansion,  "Washington,  March  10, 1S6& 

In  pursuance  of  the  twenty-sixth  section  of  the  act  of  Congress  entitled 
*?  An  Act  for  enrolling  and  calling  out  the  National  Forces,  and  for  other 
purposes,"  approved  on  the  third  of  March,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-three,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President,  and  commander- 
m-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  do  hereby  order  and 
command  that  all  soldiers  enlisted  or  drafted  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  now  absent  from  their  regiments  without  leave,  shall  forthwith 
return  to  their  respective  regiments ;  and  I  do  hereby  declare  and  pro- 
claim that  all  soldiers  now  absent  from  their  respective  regiments  without 
leave,  who  shall,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  April,  18G3,  report  them- 
selves at  any  rendezvous  designated  by  the  General  Orders  of  the  War 
Department,  No.  58,  hereto  annexed,  may  be  restored  to  their  respective 
regiments  without  punishment,  except  the  forfeiture  of  pay  and  allow- 
ances during  their  absence ;  and  all  who  do  not  return  within  the  time 
above  specified  shall  be  arrested  as  deserters,  and  punished  as  the  law 
provides. 

And  whereas  evil-disposed  and  disloyal  persons,  at  sundry  places,  have 
enticed  and  procured  soldiers  to  desert  and  absent  themselves  from » their 
regiments,  thereby  weakening  the  strength  of  the  armies,  and  prolonging 
the  war,  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy,  and  cruelly  exposing  the 
gallant  and  faithful  soldiers  remaining  in  the  ranks  to  increased  hardships 
and  dangers : 

I  do  therefore  call  upon  all  patriotic  and  faithful  citizens  to  oppose  and 
resist  the  aforementioned  dangerous  and  treasonable  crimes,  and  aid  in 
restoring  to  their  regiments  all  soldiers  absent  without  leave,  and  assist 
in  the  execution  of  the  act  of  Congress  for  "  Enrolling  and  calling  out  the 
National  Forces,  and  for  other  purposes,"  and  to  support  the  proper 
authorities  in  the  prosecution  and  punishment  of  offenders  against  said 
act,  and  aid  in  suppressing  the  insurrection  and  the  rebellion. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  tentli  day  of  March,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of 
the  independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-seventh. 

Abraham  Linoouet. 
By  the  President : 

Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War. 

The  finances  of  the  country  enlisted  a  good  deal  of 
attention  during  this  session.     It  was  necessary  to  pro- 


366  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

vide  in  some  way  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  also 
for  a  currency  ;  and  two  bills  were  accordingly  introduced 
at  an  early  stage  of  the  session  relating  to  these  two  sub- 
jects. The  Financial  Bill,  as  finally  passed  by  both 
Houses,  authorized  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
borrow  and  issue  bonds  for  nine  hundred  millions  of 
dollars,  at  not  more  than  six  per  cent,  interest,  and 
payable  at  a  time  not  less  than  ten  nor  more  than  forty 
years.  It  also  authorized  the  Secretary  to  issue  treasury 
notes  to  the  amount  of  four  hundred  millions  of  dollars, 
bearing  interest,  and  also  notes  not  bearing  interest  to  the 
amount  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars. 
While  this  bill  was  pending,  a  joint  resolution  was 
passed  by  both  Houses,  authorizing  the  issuing  of  treas- 
ury notes  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  millions  of 
dollars,  to  meet  the  immediate  wants  of  the  soldiers  and 
sailors  in  the  service. 

The  President  announced  that  he  had  signed  this  reso 
lution,  in  the  following 

MESSAGE. 
To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives : — 

I  have  signed  the  joint  resolution  to  provide  for  the  immediate  pay- 
ment of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  passed  by  the  House 
of  Kepresentatives  on  the  14th,  and  by  the  Senate  on  the  15th  inst. 
The  joint  resolution  is  a  simple  authority,  amounting,  however,  under  the 
existing  circumstances,  to  a  direction  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
make  an  additional  issue  of  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  in  United 
States  notes,  if  so  much  money  is  needed,  for  the  payment  of  the  army 
sad  navy.  My  approval  is  given  in  order  that  every  possible  facility  may 
be  afforded  for  the  prompt  discharge  of  all  arrears  of  pay  due  to  our  sol- 
diers and  our  sailors. 

While  giving  this  approval,  however,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  express  my 
sincere  regret  that  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  authorize  so  large  an 
additional  issue  of  United  States  notes,  when  this  circulation,  and  that  of 
the  suspended  banks  together,  have  become  already  so  redundant  as  to 
increase  prices  beyond  real  values,  thereby  augmenting  the  cost  of  living, 
to  the  injury  of  labor,  and  the  cost  of  supplies — to  the  injury  of  the  whole 
country.  It  seems  very  plain  that  continued  issues  of  United  States  notes, 
without  any  check  to  the  issues  of  suspended  banks,  and  without  adequate 
provision  for  the  raising  of  money  by  loans,  and  for  funding  the  issues,  so 
as  to  keep  them  within  due  limits,  must  soon  produce  disastrous  cons* 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  3G7 

qnences;  and  this  matter  appears  to  me  so  important  that  I  feel  bound  to 
avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  ask  the  special  attention  of  Congress  to  it 

That  Congress  has  power  to  regulate  the  currency  of  the  country  can 
hardly  admit  of  doubt,  and  that  a  judicious  measure  to  prevent  the  dete- 
rioration of  this  currency,  by  a  reasonable  taxation  of  bank  circulation 
or  otherwise,  is  needed,  seems  equally  clear.  Independently  of  this  gen- 
eral consideration,  it  would  be  unjust  to  the  people  at  large  to  exempt 
banks  enjoying  the  special  privilege  of  circulation,  from  their  just  propor- 
tion of  the  public  ourdens. 

In  order  to  raise  money  by  way  of  loans  most  easily  and  cheaply,  it  ia 
clearly  necessary  to  give  every  possible  support  to  the  public  credit.  To 
that  end,  a  uniform  currency,  in  which  taxes,  subscriptions,  loans,  and  all 
other  ordinary  public  dues  may  be  paid,  is  almost  if  not  quite  indispensa- 
ble. Such  a  currency  can  be  furnished  by  banking  associations  authorized 
under  a  general  act  of  Congress,  as  suggested  in  my  message  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  present  session.  The  securing  of  this  circulation  by  the  pledge 
of  the  United  States  bonds,  as  herein  suggested,  would  still  further  facili- 
tate loans,  by  increasing  the  present  and  causing  a  future  demand  for 
such  bonds. 

In  view  of  the  actual  financial  embarrassments  of  the  Government,  and 
of  the  greater  embarrassment  sure  to  come  if  the  necessary  means  of  re- 
lief be  not  afforded,  I  feel  that  I  should  not  perform  my  duty  by  a  simple 
announcement  of  my  approval  of  the  joint  resolution,  which  proposes 
relief  only  by  increasing  the  circulation,  without  expressing  my  earnest 
desire  that  measures,  such  in  substance  as  that  1  have  just  referred  to,  may 
receive  the  early  sanction  of  Congress.  By  such  measures,  in  my  opinion, 
will  payment  be  most  certainly  secured,  not  only  to  the  army  and  navy, 
but  to  all  honest  creditors  of  the  Government,  and  satisfactory  provision 

made  for  future  demands  on  the  Treasury. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 

The  second  bill—that  to  provide  a  national  currency, 
secured  by  a  pledge  of  United  States  stocks,  and  to  provide 
for  the  circulation  and  redemption  thereof,  was  passed  in 
the  Senate— ayes  twenty-three,  noes  twenty-one ;  and  in 
the  House,  ayes  seventy-eight,  noes  sixty-four— under 
the  twofold  conviction  that  so  long  as  the  war  continued 
the  country  must  have  a  large  supply  of  paper  money, 
and  that  it  was  also  highly  desirable  that  this  money 
should  be  national  in  its  character,  and  rest  on  the  faith 
of  the  Government  as  its  security. 

Another  act  of  importance,  passed  by  Congress  at  this 
session,  was  the  admission  of  West  Virginia  into  the 
Union.     The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  declares 


368  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

that  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  any  State  without  the  consent  of  the  legislature  of  the 
State  concerned,  as  well  as  of  the  Congress.  The  main 
question  on  which  the  admission  of  the  new  State  turned, 
therefore,  was  whether  that  State  had  been  formed  with 
the  consent  of  the  Legislature  of  Virginia.  The  facts  of 
the  case  were  these :  In  the  winter  of  1860--61,  the  Legis- 
lature of  Virginia,  convened  in  extra  session,  had  called 
a  convention,  to  be  held  on  the  14th  of  February,  1861, 
at  Richmond,  to  decide  on  the  question  of  secession.  A 
vote  was  also  to  be  taken,  when  the  delegates  to  this  con- 
vention should  be  elected,  to  decide  whether  an  ordinance 
of  secession,  if  passed  by  the  convention,  should  be  re- 
ferred back  to  the  people  ;  and  this  was  decided  in  the 
affirmative,  by  a  majority  of  nearly  sixty  thousand.  The 
convention  met,  and  an  ordinance  of  secession  was  passed, 
and  referred  to  the  people,  at  an  election  to  be  held  on  the 
fourth  Tuesday  of  May.  Without  waiting  for  this  vote, 
the  authorities  of  the  State  levied  war  against  the  United 
States,  joined  the  Rebel  Confederacy,  and  invited  the 
Confederate  armies  to  occupy  portions  of  their  territory. 
A  convention  of  nearly  five  hundred  delegates,  chosen  in 
Western  Virginia  under  a  popular  call,  met  early  in  May, 
declared  the  ordinance  of  secession  null  and  void,  and 
called  another  convention  of  delegates  from  all  the  coun- 
ties of  Virginia,  to  be  held  at  Wheeling,  on  the  11th 
of  June,  in  case  the  secession  ordinance  should  be  rati- 
fied by  the  popular  vote.  It  was  so  ratified,  and  the 
convention  met.  It  proceeded  on  the  assumption  that 
the  officers  of  the  old  Government  of  the  State  had  va- 
cated their  offices  by  joining  the  rebellion ;  and  it  ac- 
cordingly proceeded  to  fill  them,  and  to  reorganize  the 
Government  of  the  whole  State.  On  the  20th  of  August 
the  convention  passed  an  ordinance  to  "  provide  for  the 
formation  of  a  new  State  out  of  a  portion  of  the  territory 
of  this  State.' '  Under  that  ordinance,  delegates  were 
rilected  to  a  convention  which  met  at  Wheeling,  November 
2J6th,  and  proceeded  to  draft  a  Constitution  for  the  State 
of  West  Virginia,  as  the  new  State  was  named,  which 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  369 

was  submitted  to  the  people  of  West  Virginia  in  April, 
1862,  and  by  them  ratified  —  eighteen  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty -two  voting  in  favor  of  it,  and  live  hun- 
Ired  and  fourteen  against  it.  The  Legislature  of  Virginia, 
the  members  of  which  were  elected  by  authority  of  the 
Wheeling  Convention  of  June  11th,  met,  in  extra  session, 
called  by  the  Governor  appointed  by  that  convention,  on 
the  6th  of  May,  1862,  and  passed  an  act  giving  its  consent 
to  the  formation  of  the  new  State,  and  making  application 
to  Congress  for  its  admission  into  the  Union.  The  ques- 
tion to  be  decided  by  Congress,  therefore,  was  whether 
the  legislature  which  met  at  Wheeling  on  the  11th  of  June 
was  "the  Legislature  of  Virginia,"  and  thus  competent 
to  give  its  consent  to  the  formation  of  a  new  State  within 
the  State  of  Virginia.  The  bill  for  admitting  it,  notwith- 
standing the  opposition  of  several  leading  and  influential 
Republicans,  was  passed  in  the  House — ayes  ninety-six, 
noes  fifty-five.  It  passed  in  the  Senate  without  debate, 
and  was  approved  by  the  President  on  the  31st  of  Decem- 
ber, 1862,  and  on  the  20th  of  April,  1863,  the  President 
issued  the  following  proclamation  for  the  admission  of  the 
new  State : — 

Whereas,  by  the  act  of  Congress  approved  the  31st  day  of  December  last, 
the  State  of  West  Virginia  was  declared  to  be  one  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  was  admitted  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
original  States  in  all  respects  whatever,  upon  the  condition  that  certain 
changes  should  be  duly  made  in  the  proposed  Constitution  for  that  State. 
And  whereas,  proof  of  a  compliance  with  that  condition,  as  required  by 
the  second  section  of  the  act  aforesaid,  has  been  submitted  to  me : 

Now,  therefore,  be  it  know  n  that  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  do  hereby,  in  pursuance  of  the  act  of  Congress  aforesaid, 
declare  and  proclaim  that  the  said  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force 
from  and  after  sixty  days  from  the  date  hereof. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the  seal 
or  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  twentieth  day  of  April, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
[l.  s.]        three,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  the 
eighty-seventh.  Abraham  Lincoln, 

By  the  President  • 

William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  Stat*. 
U 


370  The  Liee,  Public  Services,  and 

A  bill  was  brought  forward  in  the  Senate  for  discussion 
on  the  29th  of  January,  proposing  a  grant  of  money  to  aid 
in  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  State  of  Missouri.  It 
gave  rise  to  a  good  deal  of  debate,  some  Senators  doubt- 
ing whether  Congress  had  any  constitutional  right  to  make 
such  an  appropriation,  and  a  marked  difference  of  opinion, 
moreover,  growing  up  as  to  the  propriety  of  gradual  or 
immediate  emancipation  in  that  State.  Mr.  Sumner,  Mr. 
Wilson,  and  several  others,  insisted  that  the  aid  proposed 
should  be  granted  only  on  condition  that  emancipation 
should  be  immediate  ;  while  the  Senators  from  Missouri 
thought  that  the  State  would  be  much  more  certain  to 
provide  for  getting  rid  of  slavery  if  the  time  were  ex- 
tended to  twenty -three  years,  as  the  bill  proposed,  than 
if  slie  were  required  to  set  free  all  her  slaves  at  once. 
The  Senators  from  the  slave  States  generally  opposed  the 
measure,  on  the  ground  that  Congress  had  no  authority 
under  the  Constitution  to  appropriate  any  portion  of  the 
public  money  for  such  a  purpose.  The  bill  was  finally 
passed  in  the  Senate,  but  it  failed  to  pass  the  House. 

Two  members  of  Congress  from  the  State  of  Louisiana 
were  admitted  to  seats  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
under  circumstances  which  made  that  action  of  consider- 
able importance.  Immediately  after  the  occupation  of 
New  Orleans  by  the  National  forces  under  General  But- 
ler, the  President  had  appointed  General  Shepley  military 
governor  of  the  State  of  Louisiana.  The  rebel  forces 
were  driven  out  from  the  City  of  New  Orleans,  and  some 
of  the  adjoining  parishes  ;  and  when,  during  the  ensuing 
summer,  the  people  were  invited  to  resume  their  allegiance 
to  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  over  sixty  thou- 
sand came  forward,  took  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  were 
admitted  to  their  rights  as  citizens.  On  the  3d  of  Decem- 
ber, General  Shepley,  acting  as  military  governor  of  the 
State,  ordered  an  election  for  members  of  Congress  in  the 
two  districts  into  which  the  City  of  New  Orleans  is  divi 
ded — each  district  embracing  also  some  of  the  adjoining 
parishes.  In  one  of  these  districts,  B.  F.  Flanders  was 
elected,  receiving  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  371 

votes,  and  all  others  two  hundred  and  seventy-three ;  and 
in  the  other,  Michael  Hahn  was  elected,  receiving  two 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-nine  votes  out  of  five 
thousand  one  hundred  and  seventeen,  the  whole  numbei 
cast.  A  committee  of  the  House,  to  which  the  appliea- 
tion  of  these  gentlemen  for  admission  to  their  seats  had 
been  referred,  reported,  on  the  9th  of  February,  in  favor 
of  their  claim.  It  was  represented  in  this  report  that  the 
requirements  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Louisiana 
■had  in  all  respects  been  complied  with,  the  only  question 
being  whether  a  military  governor,  appointed  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  could  properly  and  right- 
fully perform  the  functions  of  the  civil  governor  of  the 
State.  The  committee  held  that  he  could,  and  cited  a  de- 
cision of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  not  only 
recognizing  the  power  of  the  President  to  appoint  a  mili- 
tary governor,  bat  also  recognizing  both  his  civil  and 
military  functions  as  of  full  validity  and  binding  obliga- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  it  was  maintained  that  repre- 
sentatives can  be  elected  to  the  Federal  Legislature  only 
in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  the  State  Legislature,  or  of  an 
act  of  the  Federal  Congress.  In  this  case  neither  of  these 
requirements  had  been  fulfilled.  The  House,  however, 
admitted  both  these  gentlemen  to  their  seats,  b  a  vote  of 
ninety-two  to  forty-four. 

Before  adjourning,  Congress  passed  an  act,  approved 
on  the  3d  of  March,  authorizing  the  President,  "in  all 
domestic  and  foreign  wars,"  to  issue  to  private  armed 
vessels  of  the  United  States  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal 
— said  authority  to  terminate  at  the  end  of  three  years 
from  the  date  of  the  act.  Resolutions  were  also  adopted 
in  both  Houses,  protesting  against  every  proposition  of 
foreign  interference,  by  proffers  of  mediation  or  other- 
wise, as  "  unreasonable  and  inadmissible, "  and  declaring 
the  "  unalterable  purpose  of  the  United  States  to  prose- 
cute the  war  until  the  rebellion  shall  be  overcome.' ' 
These  resolutions,  offered  by  Mr.  Sumner,  received  in  the 
Senate  thirty-one  votes  in  their  favor,  while  but  five 
were  cast  against  them.,  and  in  the  House  one  hundred 


372  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

and  three  were  given  for  their  passage,  and  twenty- eight 
against  it. 

The  session  closed  on  the  4th  of  March,  1863.  Its  pro- 
ceedings had  been  marked  by  the  same  thorough,  and 
fixed  determination  to  carry  on  the  war,  by  the  use  of 
the  most  vigorous  and  effective  measures  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  rebellion,  and  by  the  same  full  and  prompt 
support  of  the  President,  which  had  characterized  the 
I  n -needing  Congress. 

While  some  members  of  the  Administration  party, 
becoming  impatient  of  the  delays  which  seemed  to  mark 
the  progress  of  the  war,  were  inclined  to  censure  the 
caution  of  the  President,  and  to  insist  upon  bolder  and 
more  sleeping  assaults  upon  the  persons  and  property 
of  the  people  of  the  Rebel  States,  and  especially  upon 
the  institution  of  slavery — and  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
its  more  open  opponents  denounced  every  thing  like 
severity,  as  calculated  to  exasperate  the  South  and  pro- 
long the  war,  the  great  body  of  the  members,  like  the 
great  body  of  the  people,  manifested  a  steady  and  firm 
reliance  on  the  patriotic  purpose  and  the  calm  sagacity 
evinced  by  the  President  in  his  conduct  of  public  affairs. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  373 


CHAPTER  Xn. 

ARBITRARY    ARRESTS.— THE     SUSPENSION      OP    THE    WRW     0? 
HABEAS  CORPUS.— THE  DRAFT. 

Arbitrary  Arrests. — First  Suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus. — Am 
and  Comfort  to  the  Rebels. — Executive  Order  about  Arrests. 
— Appointment  of  a  Commissioner  on  Arrests. — Opposition  to  tiib 
Government. — The  Case  of  Vallandigham. — Governor  Seymour 
on  Vallandigham. — President  Lincoln  on  Arrests. — President 
Lincoln  on  Military  Arrests. — The  President's  Letter  to  Mr. 
Corning. — The  President  to  the  Ohio  Committee. — The  President 
on  Vallandigham's  Case. — The  Habeas  Corpus  Suspended. — 
Proclamation  Concerning  Aliens. — The  Draft. — TnE  New  York 
Riots. — Letter  to  Governor  Seymour. — The  Draft  Resumed  and 
Completed. 

At  trie  very  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  the  Administra- 
tion was  compelled  to  face  one  of  the  most  formidable 
of  the  many  difficulties  which  have  embarrassed  its 
iction.  Long  before  the  issue  had  been  distinctly  made 
by  the  rebels  in  the  Southern  States,  while,  under  the 
protecting  toleration  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  Administration, 
the  conspirators  were  making  preparations  for  armed 
resistance  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  evi- 
dences were  not  wanting  that  they  relied  upon  the  active 
co-operation  of  men  and  parties  in  the  Northern  States, 
whose  political  sympathies  had  always  been  in  harmony 
with  their  principles  and  their  action.  As  early  as  in 
Jauuary,  1861,  while  the  rebels  were  diligently  and 
actively  collecting  arms  and  other  munitions  of  war,  by 
purchase  in  the  Northern  States,  for  the  contest  on  which 
they  had  resolved,  Fernando  Wood,  then  Mayor  of  New 
York,  had  apologized  to  Senator  Toombs,  of  Georgia,  for 
the  seizure  by  the  police  of  New  York  of  ft  arms  intended 
for  and  consigned  to  the  State  of  Georgia/'  and  had 
assured  him  that  "  if  he  had  the  power,  he  should  sum- 
marily punish  the  authors  of  this  illegal  and  unjustifiable 


374  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

seizure  of  private  property."  The  departments  at  Wash- 
ington, the  army  and  the  navy,  all  places  of  responsi- 
bility and  trust  under  the  Government,  and  all  depart- 
ments of  civil  and  political  activity  in  the  Northern 
States,  were  found  to  be  largely  filled  •  "by  persons  in 
active  sympathy  with  the  secession  movement,  and  ready 
at  all  times  to  give  it  all  the  aid  and  comfort  in  their 
power.  Upon  the  advent  of  the  new  Administration, 
and  when  active  measures  began  to  be  taken  for  the  sup- 
pression of  the  rebellion,  the  Government  found  its  plans 
betrayed  and  its  movements  thwarted  at  every  turn. 
Prominent  presses  and  politicians,  moreover,  throughout 
the  country,  began,  by  active  hostility,  to  indicate  their 
sympathy  with  those  who  sought,  under  cover  of  oppo- 
sition to  the  Administration,  to  overthrow  the  Govern- 
ment, and  it  became  speedily  manifest  that  there  was  suf- 
ficient of  treasonable  sentiment  throughout  the  North  to 
paralyze  the  authorities  in  their  efforts,  aided  only  by  the 
ordinary  machinery  of  the  law,  to  crush  the  secession 
movement. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  deemed  necessary  to 
resort  to  the  exercise  of  the  extraordinary  powers  with 
which,  in  extraordinary  emergencies,  the  Constitution 
had  clothed  the  Government.  That  instrument  had  pro- 
vided that  "  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
should  not  be  suspended,  unless  when,  in  cases  of  rebel- 
lion or  invasion,  the  public  safety  might  require  it."  By 
necessary  implication,  whenever,  in  such  cases  either  of 
rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  did  require  it,  the 
privilege  of  that  writ  might  be  suspended  ;  and,  from 
the  very  necessity  of  the  case,  the  Government  which 
was  charged  with  the  care  of  the  public  safety,  was  em- 
powered to  judge  when  the  contingency  should  occur. 
The  only  question  that  remained  was,  which  department 
of  the  Government  was  to  meet  this  responsibility.  If 
the  act  was  one  of  legislation,  it  could  only  be  performed 
by  Congress  and  the  President ;  if  it  was  in  its  nature 
executive,  then  it  might  be  performed,  the  emergency  re- 
quiring it,  by  the  President  alone.     The  pressing  emer- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  3?o 

gency  of  the  case,  moreover,  went  far  towards  dictating  the 
decision.  Congress  had  adjourned  on  the  4th  of  March, 
and  could  not  be  again  assembled  for  some  months ; 
and  infinite  and,  perhaps  fatal  mischief  might  be  done 
during  the  interval,  if  the  Northern  allies  of  the  rebellion 
were  allowed  with  impunity  to  prosecute  their  plans. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  considerations,  the  Presi 
dent,  in  his  proclamation  of  the  3d  of  May,  1861,  direct- 
ing the  commander  of  the  forces  of  the  United  States  on 
the  Florida  coast  to  permit  no  person  to  exercise  any 
authority  upon  the  islands  of  Key  West,  the  Tortugas, 
and  Santa  Rosa,  which  might  be  inconsistent  with  the 
authority  of  the  United  States,  also  authorized  him,  "if 
he  should  find  it  necessary,  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  and  to  remove  from  the  vicinity  of  the  United 
States  fortresses  all  dangerous  or  suspected  persons." 
This  was  the  first  act  of  the  Administration  in  that 
direction ;  but  it  was  very  soon  found  necessary  to  resort 
to  the  exercise  of  the  same  powers  in  other  sections  of  the 
country.  On  the  25th  of  May,  John  Merryman,  a  resi- 
dent of  Hayfield,  in  Baltimore  County,  Maryland,  known 
by  the  Government  to  be  in  communication  with  the 
rebels,  and  to  be  giving  them  aid  and  comfort,  was 
arrested  and  imprisoned  in  Fort  McHenry,  then  com- 
manded by  General  Cadwallader.  On  the  same  day  he 
forwarded  a  petition  to  Roger  B.  Taney,  Chief- Justice  of 
the  United  States,  reciting  the  circumstances  of  his  arrest, 
and  praying  for  the  issue  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 
The  writ  was  forthwith  issued,  and  General  Cadwallader 
wras  ordered  to  bring  the  body  of  Merryman  before  the 
Chief- Justice  on  the  27th.  On  that  day  Colonel  Lee  pre- 
sented a  written  communication  from  General  Cadwalla- 
der, stating  that  Merryman  had  been  arrested  and  com- 
mitted to  his  custody  by  ohlcers  acting  under  the  author- 
ity of  the  United  States,  charged  with  various  acts  of 
treason:  with  holding  a  commission  as  lieutenant  in  a 
company  avowing  its  purpose  of  armed  hostility  against 
the  Government,  and  with  having  made  often  and  unre- 
served declarations  of  his  association  with  this  armet 


376  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

force,  and  of  his  readiness  to  co-operate  with  those  en- 
gaged  in  the  present  rebellion  against  the  Government 
of  the  United  States.  The  General  added,  that  he  was 
"  duly  authorized  by  the  President  of  the  "United  States 
to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  for  the  public 
safety  ;"  and  that,  while  he  fully  appreciated  the  deli- 
cacy of  the  trust,  he  was  also  instructed  "that,  in  times 
of  civil  strife,  errors,  if  any,  should  be  on  the  side  of 
safety  to  the  country."  The  commanding  General  ac- 
cordingly declined  to  obey  the  writ,  whereupon  an 
attachment  was  forthwith  issued  against  him  for  con- 
tempt of  court,  made  returnable  at  noon  on  the  next  day. 
On  that  day,  the  marshal  charged  with  serving  the  at- 
tachment made  return  that  he  was  not  admitted  within 
the  fortress,  and  had  consequently  been  unable  to  serve 
the  writ.  The  Chief- Justice,  thereupon,  read  an  opinion 
that  the  President  could  not  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  nor  authorize  any  military  officer  to  do  so,  and 
that  a  military  officer  had  no  right  to  arrest  any  person, 
not  subject  to  the  rules  and  articles  of  war,  for  an  offence 
against  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  except  in  aid  of 
the  judicial  authority,  and  subject  to  its  control.  The 
Chief- Justice  stated  further,  that  the  marshal  had  the 
power  to  summon  out  the  posse  comitatus  to  enforce  the 
service  of  the  writ,  but  as  it  was  apparent  that  it  would 
be  resisted  by  a  force  notoriously  superior,  the  Court 
could  do  nothing  further  in  the  premises. 

On  the  12th  of  May,  another  writ  was  issued  by  Judge 
Giles,  of  Baltimore,  to  Major  Morris,  of  the  United  States 
Artillery,  at  Fort  McHenry,  who,  in  a  letter  dated  the 
14th,  refused  to  obey  the  writ,  because,  at  the  time  it  was 
issued,  and  for  two  weeks  previous,  the  City  of  Balti- 
more had  been  completely  under  the  control  of  the  rebel 
authorities,  United  States  soldiers  had  been  murdered  in 
the  streets,  the  intention  to  capture  that  fort  had  been 
openly  proclaimed,  and  the  legislature  of  the  State  was 
at  that  moment  debating  the  question  of  making  war 
upon  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  All  this,  in 
his  judgment,  constituted  a  case  of  rebellion,  and  afford  - 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  377 

ed  sufficient  legal  cause  for  suspending  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus.  Similar  cases  arose,  and  were  disposed  of  in  a 
similar  manner,  in  other  sections  of  the  country. 

The  Governor  of  Virginia  had  proposed  to  Mr.  G. 
Heincken,  of  New  York,  the  agent  of  the  New  York  and 
Virginia  Steamship  Company,  payment  for  two  steamers 
of  that  line,  the  Yorktown  and  Jamestown,  which  he  had 
seized  for  the  rebel  service,  an  acceptance  of  which  proffer, 
Mr.  Heincken  was  informed,  would  be  treated  as  an  act 
of  treason  to  the  Government ;  and  on  his  application, 
Mr.  Seward,  the  Secretary  of  State,  gave  him  the  follow 
ing  reasons  for  this  decision  : — 

An  insurrection  has  broken  out  in  several  of  the  States  of  this  Union, 
including  Virginia,  designed  to  overthrow  the  Government  of  the  United 
States.  The  executive  authorities  of  that  State  are  parties  to  that  insur- 
rection, and  so  are  public  enemies.  Their  action  in  seizing  or  buying 
vessels  to  be  employed  in  executing  that  design,  is  not  merely  without 
authority  of  law,  but  is  treason.  It  is  treason  for  any  person  to  give 
aid  and  comfort  to  public  enemies.  To  sell  vessels  to  them  which  it  is 
their  purpose  to  use  as  ships  of  war,  is  to  give  them  aid  and  comfort.  To 
receive  money  from  them  in  payment  for  vessels  which  they  have  seized 
for  those  purposes,  would  be  to  attempt  to  convert  the  unlawful  seizure 
into  a  sale,  and  would  subject  the  party  so  offending  to  the  pains  and 
penalties  of  treason,  and  the  Government  would  not  hesitate  to  bring  the 
offender  to  punishment. 

These  acts  and  decisions  of  the  Government  were  vehe- 
mently assailed  by  the  party  opponents  of  the  Adminis- 
tration, and  led  to  the  most  violent  and  intemperate 
assaults  upon  the  Government  in  many  of  the  public 
prints.  Some  of  these  journals  were  refused  the  privi- 
lege of  the  public  mails,  the  Government  not  holding 
itself  under  any  obligation  to  aid  in  circulating  assaults 
upon  its  own  authority,  and  stringent  restrictions  were 
placed  upon  the  transmission  of  intelligence  by  telegraph. 
On  the  5th  of  July,  1862,  Attorney- General  Bates  trans 
mitted  to  the  President  an  elaborate  opinion,  prepared  at 
his  request,  upon  his  power  to  make  arrests  of  persona 
known  to  have  criminal  complicity  with  the  insurgents, 
or  against  whom  there  is  probable  cause  for  suspicion 
of  such  criminal  complicity,  and  also  upon  his  right  U> 


378  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

refuse  to  obey  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  case  of  such 
arrests.  The  Attorney- General  discussed  the  subject  at 
considerable  length,  and  reached  a  conclusion  favorable 
to  the  action  of  the  Government.  From  that  time  for- 
ward the  Government  exerted,  with  vigor  and  energy,  all 
the  power  thus  placed  in  its  hands  to  prevent  the  rebel- 
lion from  receiving  aid  from  those  in  sympathy  with  its 
objects  in  the  Northern  States.  A  large  number  of 
persons,  believed  to  be  in  complicity  with  the  insurgents, 
were  placed  in  arrest,  but  were  released  upon  taking  an 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States  Baltimore  con- 
tinued for  some  time  to  be  the  head-quarters  of  conspira- 
cies and  movements  of  various  kinds  in  aid  of  the  rebel- 
lion, and  the  arrests  were  consequently  more  numerous 
there  than  elsewhere  Indeed,  very  strenuous  efforts 
were  made  throughout  the  summer  to  induce  some  action 
on  the  part  of  the  legislature  which  wo  aid  place  the  State 
in  alliance  with  the  Rebel  Confederacy,  and  it  was  confi- 
dently believed  that  an  ordinance  looking  to  this  end 
would  be  passed  at  the  extra  seosion  which  was  convened 
for  the  17th  of  September ;  but  on  the  16th,  nine  secession 
members  of  the  House  of  Delegates,  with  the  officers  of 
both  houses,  were  arrested  by  General  McClellan,  then 
in  command  of  the  army,  who  expressed  his  full  appro- 
bation of  the  proceedings,  and  the  session  was  not  held. 

The  President  at  the  time  gave  the  following  statement 
of  his  views  in  regard  to  these  arrests  : — 

The  public  safety  renders  it  necessary  that  the  grounds  of  these  arrests 
■hould  at  present  be  withheld,  but  at  the  proper  time  they  will  be  made 
public.  Of  one  thing  the  people  of  Maryland  may  rest  assured,  that  no 
arres:  las  been  made,  or  will  be  made,  not  based  on  substantial  and  un 
mistakable  complicity  with  those  in  armed  rebellion  against  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States.  In  no  case  has  an  arrest  been  made  on  iner« 
suspicion,  or  through  personal  or  partisan  animosities ;  but  in  all  cases 
the  Government  is  in  possession  of  tangible  and  unmistakable  evidence, 
which  will,  when  made  public,  be  satisfactory  to  every  loyal  citizen. 

Arrests  continued  to  be  made  under  authority  of  the 
State  Department,  not  without  complaint,  certainly,  from 
large  numbers  of  the  people,  but  with  the  general  acqui- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  379 

esoence  of  the  whole  community,  and  beyond  all  question 
greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  Government  and  the  coun- 
try. On  the  14th  of  February,  1862,  an  order  was  issued 
on  the  subject,  which  transferred  control  of  the  whole 
matter  to  the  War  Department.  The  circumstances  which 
had  made  these  arrests  necessary  are  stated  with  so  much 
clearness  and  force  in  that  order,  that  we  insert  it  ai 
length,  as  follows : — 

EXECUTIVE    OEDERS   IN   RELATION   TO   STATE   PEISONEEft. 

War  Department,  Washington,  February  14. 

Tne  breaking  out  of  a  formidable  insurrection,  based  on  a  conflict  of 
political  ideas,  being  an  event  without  precedent  in  the  United  States, 
was  necessarily  attended  by  great  confusion  and  perplexity  of  the  public 
mind.  Disloyalty,  before  unsuspected,  suddenly  became  bold,  and  treason 
astonished  the  world  by  bringing  at  once  into  the  field  military  forces 
superior  in  numbers  to  the  standing  army  of  the  United  States. 

Every  department  of  the  Government  was  paralyzed  by  treason.  De- 
jection appeared  in  the  Senate,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  the 
Cabinet,  in  the  Federal  Courts ;  ministers  and  consuls  returned  from 
foreign  countries  to  enter  the  insurrectionary  councils,  or  land  or  naval 
forces ;  commanding  and  other  officers  of  the  army  and  in  the  navy  be- 
1  rayed  the  councils  or  deserted  their  posts  for  commands  in  the  insurgent 
forces.  Treason  was  flagrant  in  the  revenue  and  in  the  post-office  service, 
as  well  as  in  the  Territorial  governments  and  in  the  Indian  reserves. 

Not  only  governors,  judges,  legislators,  and  ministerial  officers  in  the 
States,  but  even  whole  States,  rushed,  one  after  another,  with  apparent 
unanimity,  into  rebellion.  The  Capital  was  besieged,  and  its  connection 
with  all  the  States  cut  off. 

Even  in  the  portions  of  the  country  which  were  most  loyal,  political 
combinations  and  secret  societies  were  formed,  furthering  the  work  ol 
disunion,  while,  from  motives  of  disloyalty  or  cupidity,  or  from  excited 
passions  or  perverted  sympathies,  individuals  were  found  furnishing  men, 
money,  and  materials  of  war  and  supplies  to  the  insurgents'  military  and 
Haval  forces.  Armies,  ships,  fortifications,  navy  yards,  arsenals,  military 
posts  and  garrisons,  one  after  another,  were  betrayed  or  abandoned  to  the 
insurgents. 

Congress  had  not  anticipated  and  so  had  not  provided  for  the  emergency. 
The  municipal  authorities  were  powerless  and  inactive.  The  judicial  ma- 
chinery seemed  as  if  it  had  been  designed  not  to  sustain  the  Government, 
but  to  embarrass  and  betray  it. 

Foreign  intervention,  openly  invited  and  industriously  instigated  by  the 
abettors  of  the  insurrection,  became  imminent,  and  has  onlv  been  prs- 


380  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

vented  by  the  practice  of  strict  and  impartial  justice,  with  the  most  perfect 
moderation  in  our  intercourse  with  nations. 

The  public  mind  was  alarmed  and  apprehensive,  though  fortunately 
not  distracted  or  disheartened.  It  seemed  to  be  doubtful  whether  the 
Federal  Government,  which  one  year  before  had  been  thought  a  model 
worthy  of  universal  acceptance,  had  indeed  the  ability  to  defend  and 
maintain  itself. 

Some  reverses,  which  perhaps  were  unavoidable,  suffered  by  newly 
levied  and  inefficient  forces,  discouraged  the  loyal,  and  gave  new  hope 
to  the  insurgents.  Voluntary  enlistments  seemed  about  to  cease,  and 
desert) jns  commenced.  Parties  speculated  upon  the  question  whether 
conscription  had  not  become  necessary  to  fill  up  the  armies  of  the  United 
States. 

In  this  emergency  the  President  felt  it  his  duty  to  employ  with  energy 
the  extraordinary  powers  which  the  Constitution  confides  to  him  in  cases 
of  insurrection.  He  called  into  the  field  such  military  and  naval  forces, 
unauthorized  by  the  existing  laws,  as  seemed  necessary.  He  directed 
measures  to  prevent  the  use  of  the  post-office  for  treasonable  correspond- 
ence. He  subjected  passengers  to  and  from  foreign  countries  to  new 
passport  reguhytfons,  and  he  instituted  a  blockade,  suspended  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  in  various  places,  and  caused  persons  who  were  represented 
to  him  as  being  or  about  to  engage  in  disloyal  or  treasonable  practices  to 
be  arrested  by  special  civil  as  well  as  military  agencies,  and  detained  in 
military  custody,  when  necessary,  to  prevent  them  and  deter  others  from 
such  practices.  Examinations  of  such  cases  were  instituted,  and  some  of 
the  persons  so  arrested  have  been  discharged  from  time  to  time,  under 
circumstances  or  upon  conditions  compatible,  as  was  thought,  with  the 
public  safety. 

Meantime  a  favorable  change  of  public  opinion  has  occurred.  The  line 
between  loyalty  and  disloyalty  is  plainly  defined ;  the  whole  structure  of 
the  Government  is  firm  and  stable ;  apprehensions  of  public  danger  and 
facilities  for  treasonable  practices  have  diminished  with  the  passions  which 
prompted  heedless  persons  to  adopt  them.  The  insurrection  is  believed 
to  have  culminated  and  to  be  declining. 

The  President,  in  view  of  these  facts,  and  anxious  to  favor  a  return  to 
the  normal  course  of  the  Administration,  as  far  as  regard  for  the  public 
welfare  will  allow,  directs  that  all  political  prisoners  or  state  prisoners 
now  held  in  military  custody,  be  released  on  their  subscribing  to  a  parole 
engaging  them  to  render  no  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies  in  hostility  to 
the  United  States. 

The  Secretary  of  War  will,  however,  at  his  discretion,  except  from  the 
eifect  of  this  order  any  persons  detained  as  spies  in  the  service  of  the  in- 
surgents, or  others  whose  release  at  the  present  moment  may  be  deemed 
incompatible  with  the  public  safety. 

To  all  persons  who  shall  be  so  released,  and  who  shall  keep  their  parole. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln  381 

the  President  grants  an  amnesty  for  any  past  offences  of  treason  or  dis- 
loyalty  which  they  may  have  committed. 

Extraordinary  arrests  will  hereafter  be  made  under  the  direction  of  the 
military  authorities  alone. 

By  order  of  the  President: 

Edwin  M.  Stanton.  Secretary  of  War. 

,  On  the  27th  of  the  same  month,  a  commission  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  War  Department,  consisting  of  Major- 
General  Dix  and  Hon.  Edwards  Pierrepont,  of  New 
York,  to  examine  into  the  cases  of  the  state  prisoners 
then  remaining  in  custody,  and  to  determine  whether,  in 
view  of  the  public  safety  and  the  existing  rebellion,  they 
should  be  discharged,  or  remain  in  arrest,  or  be  remitted 
to  the  civil  tribunals  for  trial.  These  gentlemen  entered 
at  once  upon  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  and  a  large 
number  of  prisoners  were  released  from  custody  on  taking 
the  oath  of  allegiance.  Wherever  the  public  safety 
seemed  to  require  it,  however,  arrests  continued  to  be 
made — the  President,  in  every  instance,  assuming  all  the 
responsibility  of  these  acts,  and  throwing  himself  upon 
the  courts  and  the  judgment  of  the  country  for  his  vindi- 
cation. But  the  President  himself  had  not  up  to  this  time 
directed  any  general  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  or  given  any  public  notice  of  the  rules  by  which 
the  Government  would  be  guided  in  its  action  upon  cases 
that  might  arise.  It  was  left  to  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
decide  in  what  instances  and  for  what  causes  arrests  should 
be  made,  and  the  privilege  of  the  writ  should  be  sus- 
pended. In  some  of  the  courts  into  which  these  cases 
were  brought,  the  ground  was  accordingly  taken  that, 
although  the  President  might  have  authority  under  the 
Constitution,  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the 
public  safety  should  require  it,  to  suspend  the  writ,  he 
could  not  delegate  that  authority  to  any  subordinate.  To 
meet  this  view,  therefore,  the  President,  on  the  24th  of 
September,  1862,  issued  the  following 

PROCLAMATION. 
Whereas,  it  has  been  necessary  to  call  into  service,  not  only  volunteers, 
hut  also  portions  of  the  militia  of  the  States  by  draft,  in  order  to  supprww 


382  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

the  insurrection  existing  in  the  United  States,  and  disloyal  persons  are 
not  adequately  restrained  by  the  ordinary  processes  of  law  from  hindering 
this  measure,  and  from  giving  aid  and  comfort  in  various  ways  to  the  in- 
surrection : 

Now,  therefore,  be  it  ordered — 

First.  That  during  the  existing  insurrection,  and  as  a  necessary  measuni 
for  suppressing  the  same,  all  rebels  and  insurgents,  their  aiders  and  abettor* , 
within  the  United  States,  and  al]  persons  discouraging  volunteer  enlist 
meuts,  resisting  military  drafts,  or  guilty  of  any  disloyal  practice  affording 
ai  1  and  comfort  to  the  rebels  against  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
Ahall  be  subject  to  martial  law,  and  liable  to  trial  and  punishment  by 
courts-martial  or  military  commission. 

Second.  That  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  suspended  in  respect  to  all 
persons  arrested,  or  who  are  now,  or  hereafter  during  the  rebellion  shall 
be,  imprisoned  in  any  fort,  camp,  arsenal,  military  prison,  or  other  place 
of  confinement,  by  any  military  authority,  or  by  the  sentence  of  any 
court-martial  or  military  commission. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  seal,  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  twenty-fourth  day  o.* 
September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
|l.  s.]        dred  and  sixty-two,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  the  eighty-seventh. 

Abbaham  Lincols. 
By  the  President : 

William  H.  Sewabd,  Secretary  of  State. 

This  proclamation  was  accompanied  by  orders  from  the 
War  Department  appointing  a  Provost- Marshal-G^ieial, 
whose  head-quarters  were  to  "be  at  Washington,  with 
special  provost-marshals,  one  or  more  in  each  State, 
charged  with  the  duty  of  arresting  deserters  and  disloyal 
persons,  and  of  inquiring  into  treasonable  practices 
ihroughout  the  country.  They  were  authorized  to  call 
upon  either  the  civil  or  military  authority  for  aid  in  the 
discharge  of  their  duties,  and  were  required  to  report  to 
the  department  at  Washington.  The  creation  of  this  new 
department  had  been  made  necessary  by  the  increased 
activity  of  the  enemies  of  the  Government  throughout  the 
North,  and  by  the  degree  of  success  which  had  attended 
their  efforts.  Prompted  partly  by  merely  political  and 
partisan  motives,  but  in  many  instances  by  thorough  sym- 
pathy with  the  secession  movement,  active  political  lead- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  38b 

ers  had  set  in  vigorous  motion  very  extensive  machinery 
for  the  advancement  of  their  designs.  ' '  Peace-meetings  " 
were  held  in  every  section  of  the  Northern  States,  at  which 
the  action  of  the  Government  was  most  vehemently  as- 
sailed, the  objects  of  the  war  were  misrepresented,  and  its 
prosecution  denounced,  and  special  efforts  made  to  prevent 
enlistments,  to  promote  desertions,  and  in  every  way  to 
cripple  the  Government  in  its  efforts  to  subdue  the  rebel- 
lion by  force  of  arms.  The  vigorous  action  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, however,  in  arresting  men  conspicuous  in  these 
disloyal  practices,  had  created  a  salutary  reaction  in  the 
public  mind,  and  had  so  far  relieved  the  Administration 
from  apprehension  as  to  warrant  the  promulgation  of  th* 
following  order : — 

Wab  Department,  Washington,  November  22, 1868. 

Ordered — 1.  That  all  persons  now  in  military  custody,  who  have  been 
arrested  for  discouraging  volunteer  enlistments,  opposing  the  draft,  or  for 
otherwise  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy,  in  States  where  the  draft 
has  been  made,  or  the  quota  of  volunteers  and  militia  has  been  furnished, 
shall  be  discharged  from  further  military  restraint. 

2.  The  persons  who,  by  the  authority  of  the  military  commander  or 
governor  in  rebel  States,  have  been  arrested  and  sent  from  such  State  for 
disloyalty  or  hostility  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  are 
now  in  military  custody,  may  also  be  discharged  upon  giving  their  parole 
to  do  no  act  of  hostility  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  nor 
render  aid  to  itn  enemies.  But  all  such  persons  shall  remain  subject  to 
military  surveiliar.ee  and  liable  to  arrest  on  breach  of  their  parole.  And 
if  any  such  persons  shall  prefer  to  leave  the  loyal  States  on  condition  of 
their  not  returning  again  during  the  war,  or  until  special  leave  for  that 
purpose  be  obtained  from  the  President,  then  such  persons  shall,  at  hii 
option,  be  released  and  depart  from  the  United  States,  or  be  conveyed 
beyond  the  military  lines  of  the  United  States  forces. 

3,  This  order  shall  not  operate  to  discharge  any  person  who  has  been  ik 
arms  against  the  Government,  or  by  force  and  arms  has  resisted  or  at- 
tempted to  resist  the  draft,  nor  relieve  any  person  from  liability  to  trial 
*nd  punishment  by  civil  tribunals,  or  by  court-martial  or  military  commis- 
sion, who  may  be  amenable  to  such  tribunals  for  offences  committed. 

By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War : 

E.  D.  Townsend,  Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

During  the  succeeding  winter,  while  Congress  was  in 
cession,  public  sentiment  was  comparatively  at  rest  on  this 


384  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

subject.  Congress  bad  enacted  a  law,  sanctioning  the 
action  of  the  President  in  suspending  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus •,  and  clothing  him  with  full  authority  to  check  and 
punish  all  attempts  to  defeat  the  efforts  of  the  Government 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  After  the  adjournment, 
however,  when  the  political  activity  of  the  country  was 
transferred  from  the  Capital  to  the  people  in  their  respec- 
tive localities,  the  party  agitation  was  revived,  and  public 
meetings  were  again  held  to  denounce  the  conduct  of  the 
Government,  and  to  protest  against  the  further  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war.  One  of  the  most  active  of  these  advo- 
cates of  peace  with  the  Rebel  Confederacy  was  Hon.  C.  L. 
Yallandigham,  a  member  of  Congress  from  Ohio,  wno  had 
steadily  opposed  all  measures  for  the  prosecution  of  the 
war  throughout  the  session.  After  the  adjournment  he 
made  a  political  canvass  of  his  district,  and  in  a  speech  at 
Mount  Vernon,  on  the  1st  of  May,  he  denounced  the  Gov 
ernment  at  Washington  as  aiming,  in  the  conduct  of  the 
war,  not  to  restore  the  Union,  but  to  crush  out  liberty  and 
establish  a  despotism.  He  declared  that  the  war  was 
nraged  for  the  freedom  of  the  blacks  and  the  enslaving  of 
the  whites — that  the  Government  could  have  had  peace 
long  before  if  it  had  desired  it— that  the  mediation  of 
France  ought  to  have  been  accepted,  and  that  the  Govern 
ment  had  deliberately  rejected  propositions  by  which  the 
Southern  States  could  have  been  brought  back  to  the 
Union.  He  also  denounced  an  order,  No.  38,  issued  by 
General  Burnside,  in  command  of  the  department,  forbid- 
ding certain  disloyal  practices,  and  giving  notice  that  per- 
sons declaring  sympathy  for  the  enemy  would  be  arrested 
for  trial,  proclaimed  his  intention  to  disobey  it,  and  called 
on  the  people  who  heard  him  to  resist  and  defeat  its  exe- 
cution. 

For  this  speech  Mr.  Yallandigham  was  arrested,  by  order 
of  General  Burnside,  on  the  4th  of  May,  and  ordered  for 
tral  before  a  court-martial  at  Cincinnati.  On  the  5th,  he 
applied,  through  his  counsel,  Senator  Pugh,  to  the  Circuit 
Court  of  the  tlnited  States  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 
In  reply  to  this  application,  a  letter  was  read  from  Gen- 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  386 

eral  Burnside,  setting  forth  the  considerations  which  had 
led  him  to  make  the  arrest,  and  Vallandigham'  s  counsel 
was  then  heard  in  a  very  long  argument  on  the  case. 
Judge  Stewart  pronounced  his  decision,  refusing  the  writ, 
on  the  ground  that  the  action  of  General  Burnside  was 
necessary  for  the  public  safety.  u  The  legality  of  the  ar- 
rest," said  the  judge,  "  depends  upon  the  extent  of  the 
necessity  for  making  it,  and  that  was  to  be  determined  by 
the  military  commander."     And  he  adds — 

Hen  should  know  and  lay  the  truth  to  heart,  that  there  is  a  course  ot 
conduct  not  involving  overt  treason,  and  not  therefore  subject  to  punish- 
ment as  such,  which,  nevertheless,  implies  moral  guilt,  and  a  gross  offence 
against  the  country.  Those  who  live  under  the  protection  and  enjoy  the 
blessings  of  our  benignant  Government,  must  learn  that  they  cannot  stab 
its  vitals  with  impunity.  If  they  cherish  hatred  and  hostility  to  it,  and 
desire  its  subversion,  let  them  withdraw  from  its  jurisdiction,  and  seek  the 
fellowship  and  protection  of  those  with  whom  they  are  in  sympathy  Ii 
they  remain  with  us,  while  they  are  not  of  us,  they  must  he  subject  vO 
such  a  course  of  dealing  as  the  great  law  of  self-preservation  prescribes 
and  will  enforce  And  let  them  not  complain  if  the  stringent  doctrine  of 
military  necessity  should  find  them  to  be  the  legitimate  subjects  of  its 
action.  I  have  no  fear  that  the  recognition  of  this  doctrine  will  lead  to 
an  arbitrary  invasion  of  the  personal  security,  or  personal  liberty,  of  the 
citizen.  It  is  rare  indeed  that  a  charge  of  disloyalty  will  be  made  on 
insufficient  grounds.  But  if  there  should  be  an  occasional  mistake,  such 
an  occurrence  is  not  to  be  put  in  competition  with  the  preservation  of  the 
nation ;  and  I  confess  I  am  but  little  moved  by  the  eloquent  appeals  of 
those  who,  while  they  indignantly  denounce  violation  of  personal  liberty, 
look  with  no  horror  upon  a  despotism  as  unmitigated  as  the  world  ha* 
ever  witnessed. 

The  military  commission,  before  which  Yallandigham 
was  ordered  for  trial,  met  on  the  6th,  found  him  guilty  of 
the  principal  offences  charged,  and  sentenced  him  to  be 
placed  in  close  confinement  in  some  fortress  of  the  United 
States,  to  be  designated  by  the  commanding  officer  of  that 
department.  Major-General  Burnside  approved  the  sen- 
tence, and  designated  Fort  Warren,  in  Boston  Harbor,  as 
the  place  of  confinement.  The  President  modified  this 
sentence  by  directing  that,  instead  of  being  imprisoned, 
nandigham  should  be  sent  within  the  rebel  lines, 
not  return  to  the  United  States  until  after  the 


386  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

termination  of  the  war.    This  sentence  was  at  once  carried 
into  execution. 

The  arrest,  trial,  and  sentence  of  Mr.  Vallandigham 
created  a  good  deal  of  excitement  throughout  the  country 
The  opponents  of  the  Administration  treated  it  as  a  case 
of  martyrdom,  and  held  public  meetings  for  the  purpose 
of  denouncing  the  action  of  the  Government  as  tyiannical 
and  highly  dangerous  to  the  public  liberties.  One  of  the 
I  curliest  of  these  demonstrations  was  held  at  Albany,  N.Y., 
i»n  the  16th  of  May,  at  which  Hon.  Erastus  Corning  pre- 
sided, and  to  which  Governor  Seymour  addressed  a  letter, 
expressing  in  the  strongest  terms  his  condemnation  of  the 
course  pursued  by  the  Government.  "If  this  proceed- 
ing," said  he,  speaking  of  the  arrest  of  Vallandigham,  "is 
approved  by  the  Government,  and  sanctioned  by  the 
people,  it  is  not  merely  a  step  towards  revolution — it  is 
revolution.  It  will  not  only  lead  to  military  despotism  — 
it  establishes  military  despotism.  In  this  aspect  it  must 
be  accepted,  or  in  this  aspect  rejected.  *  *  *  The 
people  of  this  country  now  wait  with  the  deepest  anxiety 
the  decision  of  the  Administration  upon  these  acts.  Hav- 
ing given  it  a  generous  support  in  the  conduct  of  the  war, 
we  pause  to  see  what  kind  of  a  government  it  is  for  which 
we  are  asked  to  pour  out  our  blood  and  our  treasure. 
The  action  of  the  Administration  will  determine,  in  the 
minds  of  more  than  one-half  of  the  people  of  the  loyal 
States,  whether  this  war  is  waged  to  put  down  rebellion 
at  the  South,  or  destroy  free  institutions  at  the  North.' ' 
The  resolutions  which  were  adopted  at  this  meeting 
pledged  the  Democratic  party  of  the  State  to  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union,  but  condemned  in  strong  terms  the 
whole  system  of  arbitrary  arrests,  and  the  suspension  of 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

A  copy  of  these  resolutions  was  forwarded  by  the  pre- 
siding officer  to  President  Lincoln,  who  sent  the  follow- 
ing letter  in  reply  : — 

Executive  Mansion,  WjlBhington,  JUne  18, 1868. 

Hon.  Ebastus  Corning  and  others  : 

Gentlemen: — Your  letter  of  May  19,  enclosing  the  resolutions  of  *  pob 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  387 

lie  meeting  held  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  on  the  16th  of  the  same  month,  was 
received  several  days  ago. 

The  resolutions,  as  I  understand  them,  are  resolvable  into  two  proposi- 
tions :  first,  the  expression  of  a  purpose  to  sustain  the  cause  of  the  Union, 
to  secure  peace  through  victory,  and  to  support  the  Administration  in 
every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  to  suppress  the  rebellion ;  and, 
secondly,  a  declaration  of  censure  upon  the  Administration  for  supposed 
unconstitutional  action,  such  as  the  making  of  military  arrests.  And  from 
the  two  propositions  a  third  is  deduced,  which  is,  that  the  gentlemen 
composing  the  meeting  are  resolved  on  doing  their  part  to  maintain  our 
common  Government  and  country,  despite  the  folly  or  wickedness,  as 
they  may  conceive,  of  any  Administration.  This  position  is  eminently 
patriotic,  and  as  such  I  thank  the  meeting  and  congratulate  the  nation  for 
it.  My  own  purpose  is  the  same,  so  that  the  meeting  and  myself  have  a 
common  object,  and  can  have  no  difference,  except  in  the  choice  of  means 
or  measures  for  effecting  that  object. 

And  here  I  ought  to  close  this  paper,  and  would  close  it,  if  there  were 
no  apprehension  that  more  injurious  consequences  than  any  merely  per 
sonal  to  myself  might  follow  the  censures  systematically  cast  upon  me  for 
doing  what,  in  my  view  of  duty,  I  could  not  forbear.  The  resolutions 
promise  to  support  me  in  every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  to  sup- 
press the  rebellion,  and  I  have  not  knowingly  employed,  nor  shall  know- 
ingly employ  any  other.  But  the  meeting,  by  their  resolutions,  assert 
and  argue  tnat  certain  military  arrests,  and  proceedings  following  them, 
for  which  I  am  ultimately  responsible,  are  unconstitutional.  I  think  they 
are  not.  The  resolutions  quote  from  the  Constitution  the  definition  of 
treason,  and  also  the  limiting  safeguards  and  guarantees  therein  provided 
for  the  citizen  on  trial  for  treason,  and  on  his  being  held  to  answer  for 
capital,  or  otherwise  infamous  crimes,  and,  in  criminal  prosecutions,  his 
right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury.  They  proceed  to 
resolve  "that  these  safeguards  of  the  rights  of  the  citizen  against  the 
pretensions  vf  arbitrary  power  were  intended  more  especially  for  his  pro- 
tection in  times  of  civil  commotion." 

i  And,  apparently  to  demonstrate  the  proposition,  the  resolutions  pro- 
ceed :  "They  were  secured  substantially  to  the  English  people  after  years 
of  protracted  civil  war,  and  were  adopted  into  our  Constitution  at  the 
close  of  the  Revolution."  Would  not  the  demonstration  have  been  better 
if  it  could  have  been  truly  said  that  these  safeguards  had  been  adopted 
and  applied  during  the  civil  wars  and  during  our  Revolution,  instead  of 
after  the  one  and  at  the  close  of  the  other?  I,  too,  am  devotedly  for  them 
after  civil  war,  and  before  civil  war,  and  at  all  times,  "  except  when,  in 
cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require  "  their  sus- 
pension. The  resolutions  proceed  to  tell  us  that  these  safeguards  M  have 
stood  the  test  of  seventy-six  years  of  trial,  under  our  republican  system, 
nnder  circumstances  which  show  that,  while  they  constitute  the  founda- 


388  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

tion  of  all  free  government,  they  are  the  elements  of  the  enduring  sta- 
bility of  the  Republic."  No  one  denies  that  they  have  so  stood  the  teet 
np  to  the  beginning  of  the  present  rebellion,  if  we  except  a  certain  occur- 
rence at  New  Orleans ;  nor  does  any  one  question  that  they  will  stand 
the  same  test  much  longer  after  the  rebellion  closes.  But  these  provisions 
of  the  Constitution  have  no  application  to  the  case  we  have  in  hand,  be- 
cause the  arrests  complained  of  were  not  made  for  treason — that  is,  not 
for  the  treason  defined  in  the  Constitution,  and  upon  conviction  of  which 
the  punishment  is  death — nor  yet  were  they  made  to  hold  persona 
to  answer  for  any  capital  or  otherwise  infamous  crimes ;  nor  were  the 
proceedings  following,  in  any  constitutional  or  legal  sense,  "  criminal 
prosecutions."  The  arrests  were  made  on  totally  different  grounds,  and 
the  proceedings  following  accorded  with  the  grounds  of  the  arrest.  Let 
us  consider  the  real  case  with  which  we  are  dealing,  and  apply  to  it  the 
parts  of  the  Constitution  plainly  made  for  such  cases. 

Prior  to  my  installation  here,  it  had  been  inculcated  that  any  State  had 
a  lawful  right  to  secede  from  the  National  Union,  and  that  it  would  be 
expedient  to  exercise  the  right  whenever  the  devotees  of  the  doctrine 
should  fail  to  elect  a  President  to  their  own  liking.  I  was  elected  con- 
trary to  their  liking,  and  accordingly,  so  far  as  it  was  legally  possible, 
they  had  taken  seven  States  out  of  the  Union,  had  seized  many  of  the 
United  States  forts,  and  had  fired  upon  the  United  States  flag,  all  before 
I  was  inaugurated,  and,  of  course,  before  I  had  done  any  official  act  what- 
ever. The  rebellion  thus  began  soon  ran  into  the  present  civil  war ; 
and,  in  certain  respects,  it  began  on  very  unequal  terms  between  the  par- 
ties. The  insurgents  had  been  preparing  for  it  more  than  thirty  years, 
while  the  Government  had  taken  no  steps  to  resist  them.  The  former 
had  carefully  considered  all  the  means  which  could  be  turned  to  their 
account.  It  undoubtedly  was  a  well-pondered  reliance  with  them  that, 
in  their  own  unrestricted  efforts  to  destroy  Union,  Constitution,  and  law 
altogether,  the  Government  would,  in  great  degree,  be  restrained  by  the 
same  Constitution  and  law  from  arresting  their  progress.  Their  sympa- 
thizers pervaded  all  departments  of  the  Government,  and  nearly  all  com- 
munities of  the  people.  From  this  material,  under  cover  of  "  liberty  of 
speech,"  "liberty  of  the  press,"  and  "habeas  corpus,"  they  hoped  to 
keep  on  foot  among  us  a  most  efficient  corps  of  spies,  informers,  suppliers, 
and  aiders  and  abettors  of  their  cause  in  a  thousand  ways.  They  knew 
that  in  times  such  as  they  wore  inaugurating,  by  the  Constitution  itself 
the  '•  habeas  corpus  "  might  be  suspended ;  but  they  also  knew  they  had 
friends  who  would  make  a  question  as  to  who  was  to  suspend  it :  mean- 
while, their  spies  and  others  might  remain  at  large  to  help  on  their  cause. 
Or  if,  as  has  happened,  the  Executive  should  suspend  the  writ,  without 
ruinous  waste  of  time,  instances  of  arresting  innocent  persons  might  occur, 
as  are  always  likely  to  occur  in  such  cases,  and  then  a  clamor  could  be 
raised  in  regard  to  this  which  might  be,  at  least,  of  some  service  to  th« 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  389 

insurgent  cause.  It  needed  no  very  keen  perception  to  discover  this  part 
of  the  enemy's  programme,  so  soon  as,  by  opening  hostilities,  their  ma- 
chinery was  put  fairly  in  motion.  Yet,  thoroughly  imbued  with  a  rev- 
erence for  the  guaranteed  rights  >J  individuals,  I  was  slow  to  adopt  the 
strong  measures  which  by  degrees  I  have  been  forced  to  regard  as  being 
within  the  exceptions  of  the  Constitution,  and  as  indispensable  to  the 
public  safety.  Nothing  is  better  known  to  history  than  that  courts  of 
justice  are  utterly  incompetent  to  such  cases.  Civil  courts  are  organized 
chiefly  for  trials  of  individuals,  or,  at  most,  a  few  individuals  acting  in 
concert,  and  this  in  quiet  times,  and  on  charges  of  crimes  well  defined  in 
the  law.  Even  in  times  of  peace,  bands  of  horse-thieves  and  robbers  fre- 
quently grow  too  numerous  and  powerful  for  the  ordinary  courts  of  jus- 
tice. But  what  comparison,  in  numbers,  have  such  bands  ever  borne  to 
the  insurgent  sympathizers  even  in  many  of  the  loyal  States  ?  Again,  a 
jury  too  frequently  has  at  least  one  member  more  ready  to  hang  the 
panel  than  to  hang  the  traitor.  And  yet,  again,  he  who  dissuades  one 
man  from  volunteering,  or  induces  one  soldier  to  desert,  weakens  the 
Union  cause  as  much  as  he  who  kills  a  Union  soldier  in  battle.  Yet  this 
dissuasion  or  inducement  may  be  so  conducted  as  to  be  no  defined  crime 
of  which  any  civil  court  would  take  cognizance. 

Ours  is  a  case  of  rebellion — so  called  by  the  resolution  before  me — in 
fact,  a  clear,  flagrant,  and  gigantic  case  of  rebellion ;  and  the  provision 
of  the  Constitution  that  "  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall 
not  be  suspended  unless  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  pub- 
lic safety  may  require  it,"  is  the  provision  which  specially  applies  to  our 
present  case.  This  provision  plainly  attests  the  understanding  of  those 
who  made  the  Constitution,  that  ordinary  courts  of  justice  are  inadequate 
to  "cases  of  rebellion" — attests  their  purpose  that,  in  such  cases,  men 
may  be  held  in  custody  whom  the  courts,  acting  on  ordinary  rales,  would 
discharge.  Habeas  corpus  does  not  discharge  men  who  are  proved  to  be 
guilty  of  defined  crime ;  and  its  suspension  is  allowed  by  the  Constitu- 
tion on  purpose  that  men  maybe  arrested  and  held  who  cannot  be  proved 
to  be  guilty  of  defined  crime,  "  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion, 
the  public  safety  may  require  it."  This  is  precisely  our  present  case— a 
case  of  rebellion,  wherein  the  public  safety  does  require  the  suspension. 
Indeed,  arrests  by  process  of  courts,  and  arrests  in  cases  of  rebellion,  do 
not  proceed  altogether  upon  the  same  basis.  The  former  is  directed  at 
the  small  percentage  of  ordinary  and  continuous  perpetration  of  crime ; 
while  the  latter  is  directed  at  sudden  and  extensive  uprisings  against  the 
Government,  which  at  most  will  succeed  or  fail  in  no  great  length  of 
time.  In  the  latter  case  arrests  are  made,  not  so  much  for  what  has 
been  done  as  for  what  probably  would  be  done.  The  latter  is  more  for 
the  preventive  and  less  for  the  vindictive  than  the  former.  In  such  case* 
the  purposes  of  men  are  much  more  easily  understood  than  in  case*  of 
ordinary  crime.     The  man  who  stands  by  and  says  nothing,  when  the 


590  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

peril  of  his  Government  is  discussed,  cannot  be  misunderstood.  If  not 
hindered,  he  is  sure  to  help  the  enemy;  much  more,  if  he  talks  ambigu- 
ously— ta!ks  for  his  country  with  "buts,"  and  "ifs,"  and  "ands."  Of 
how  little  value  the  constitutional  provisions  I  have  quoted  will  be  ren- 
dered, if  arrests  shall  never  be  made  until  defined  crimes  shall  have  boed 
committed,  may  be  illustrated  by  a  few  notable  examples.  General  John 
0.  Breckinridge,  General  Robert  E.  Eee,  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston, 
General  John  B.  Magruder,  General  William  B.  Preston,  General  Simc 
B.  Buckner,  and  Commodore  Franklin  Buchanan,  now  occupying  the  ve: 
highest  places  in  the  rebel  war  service,  were  all  within  the  power  of  th 
Government  since  the  rebellion  began,  and  were  nearly  as  well  known  to 
be  traitors  then  as  now.  Unquestionably,  if  we  had  seized  and  held 
them,  the  insurgent  cause  would  be  much  weaker.  But  no  one  of  them 
had  then  committed  any  crime  defined  in  the  law.  Every  one  of  them, 
if  arrested,  would  have  been  discharged  on  habeas  corpus,  were  the  writ 
allowed  to  operate.  In  view  of  these  and  similar  cases,  I  think  the  time 
not  unlikely  to  come  when  I  shall  be  blamed  for  having  made  too  few 
wrests  rather  than  too  many. 

By  the  third  resolution,  the  meeting  indicate  their  opinion  that  military 
arrests  may  be  constitutional  in  localities  where  rebellion  actually  exists, 
but  that  such  arrests  are  unconstitutional  in  localities  where  rebellion  01 
msarrection  does  not  actually  exist.  They  insist  that  such  arrests  shall 
not  be  made  "  outside  of  the  lines  of  necessary  military  occupation  and 
*he  scenes  of  insurrection."  Inasmuch,  however,  as  the  Constitution  itself 
jiakes  no  such  distinction,  I  am  unable  to  believe  that  there  is  any  such 
jonstitutional  distinction.  I  concede  that  the  class  of  arrests  complained 
)f  can  be  constitutional  only  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the 
public  safety  may  require  them ;  and  I  insist  that  in  such  cases  they  are 
constitutional  wherever  the  public  safety  does  require  them ;  as  well  in 
places  to  which  they  may  prevent  the  rebellion  extending  as  in  those 
where  it  may  be  already  prevailing ;  as  well  where  they  may  restrain  mis- 
chievous interference  with  the  raising  and  supplying  of  armies  lo  sup 
press  the  rebellion,  as  where  the  rebellion  may  actually  be;  as  well 
where  they  may  restrain  the  enticing  men  out  of  the  army,  as  where 
they  would  prevent  mutiny  in  the  army;  equally  constitutional  at  all 
places  where  they  will  conduce  to  the  public  safety,  as  against  the  dan- 
gers of  rebellion  or  invasion.  Take  the  particular  case  mentioned  by  the 
meeting.  It  is  asserted,  in  substance,  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  was,  by  a 
military  commander,  seized  and  tried  "  for  no  other  reason  than  words 
addressed  to  a  public  meeting,  in  criticism  of  the  course  of  the  Admin- 
istration, and  in  condemnation  of  the  military  orders  of  the  general." 
Now,  if  there  be  no  mistake  about  this ;  if  this  assertion  is  the  truth  and 
the  whole  truth ;  if  there  was  no  other  reason  for  the  arrest,  then  I  con- 
cede that  the  an  est  was  wrong.  But  the  arrest,  as  I  understand,  was 
imde  for  a  very  different  reason.     Mr.  Val»andigham  avows  his  hostility  to 


State  Papers  qjp  Ajjraham  Lincoln.  391 

the  war  on  the  part  of  the  Union ;  and  his  arrest  was  made  because  he 
was  laboring,  with  some  effect,  to  prevent  the  raising  of  troops;  to  en- 
courage desertions  from  the  army ;  and  to  leave  the  rebellion  without 
an  adequate  military  force  to  suppress  it.  He  was  not  arrested  because 
ne  was  damaging  the  political  prospects  of  the  Administration,  or  the  per- 
sonal interests  of  the  commanding  general,  but  because  he  was  damaging 
the  army,  upon  the  existence  and  vigor  of  which  the  life  of  the  nation 
depends.  He  was  warring  upon  the  military,  and  this  gave  the  military 
constitutional  jurisdiction  to  lay  hands  upon  him.  If  Mr.  Vallandigham 
was  not  damaging  the  military  power  of  the  country,  then  this  arrest 
was  made  on  mistake  of  fact,  which  I  would  be  glad  to  correct  on  rea- 
sonable satisfactory  evidence. 

I  understand  the  meeting,  whose  resolutions  1  am  considering,  to  be  in 
favor  of  suppressing  the  rebellion  by  military  force — by  armies.  Long 
experience  has  shown  that  armies  cannot  be  maintained  unless  desertions 
shall  be  punished  by  the  severe  penalty  of  death.  The  case  requires,  and 
the  law  and  the  Constitution  sanction,  this  punishment.  Must  I  shoot  a 
simple-minded  soldier  boy  who  deserts,  while  I  must  not  touch  a  hair  of 
a  wily  agitator  who  induces  him  to  desert?  This  is  none  the  less  injuri- 
ous when  effected  by  getting  a  father,  or  brother,  or  friend,  into  a  public 
meeting,  and  there  working  upon  his  feelings  till  he  is  persuaded  to 
write  the  soldier  boy  that  he  is  fighting  in  a  bad  cause,  for  a  wicked 
Administration  of  a  contemptible  Government,  too  weak  to  arrest  and 
punish  him  if  he  shall  desert.  I  think  that  in  such  a  case  to  silence  the 
agitator  and  save  the  boy  is  not  only  constitutional,  but  withal  a  great 
mercy. 

If  I  be  wrong  on  this  question  of  constitutional  power,  my  error  lies 
in  believing  that  certain  proceedings  are  constitutional  when,  in  cases  of 
rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  requires  them,  which  would  not 
be  constitutional  when,  in  the  absence  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  pub- 
lic safety  does  not  require  them ;  in  other  words,  that  the  Constitution  is 
not,  in  its  application,  in  all  respects  the  same,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or 
invasion  involving  the  public  safety,  as  it  is  in  time  of  profound  peace 
and  public  security.  The  Constitution  itself  makes  the  distinction ;  and 
I  can  no  more  be  persuaded  that  the  Government  can  constitutionally 
take  no  strong  measures  in  time  of  rebellion,  because  it  can  be  shown 
that  the  same  could  not  be  lawfully  taken  in  time  of  peace,  than  I  can 
be  persuaded  that  a  particular  drug  is  not  good  medicine  for  a  sick  man, 
because  it  can  be  shown  not  to  be  good  food  for  a  well  one.  Nor  am  I  able 
to  appreciate  the  danger  apprehended  by  the  meeting  that  the  Amer- 
ican people  will,  by  means  of  military  arrests  during  the  rebellion,  lose 
the  right  of  public  discussion,  the  liberty  of  speech  and  the  press,  the 
law  of  evidence,  trial  by  jury,  and  habeas  corpus,  throughout  the  indefi- 
nite peaceful  future,  which  I  trust  lies  before  them,  any  more  than  I  am 
able  to  believe  that  a  man  coulc*  o->ntraot  so  strong  an  appetite  for  emetics 


392  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

during  temporary  illness  as  to  persist  in  feeding  npon  them  during  the 
remainder  of  his  healthful  life. 

In  giving  the  resolutions  that  earnest  consideration  which  you  request 
of  me,  I  cannot  overlook  the  fact  that  the  meeting  speak  as  u  Demo- 
crats." Nor  can  I,  with  full  respect  for  their  known  intelligence,  and 
the  fairly  presumed  deliberation  with  which  they  prepared  their  reso- 
lutions, be  permitted  to  suppose  that  this  occurred  by  accident,  or  in 
any  way  other  than  that  they  preferred  to  designate  themselves  "  Dem- 
ocrats" rather  than  "American  citizens."  In  this  time  of  national 
peril,  1  would  have  preferred  to  meet  you  on  a  level  one  step  higher  than 
any  party  platform ;  because  I  am  sure  that,  from  such  more  elevated 
position,  wo  could  do  better  battle  for  the  country  we  all  love  than  we 
possibly  can  from  those  lower  ones  where,  from  the  force  of  habit,  the 
prejudices  of  the  past,  and  selfish  hopes  of  the  future,  we  are  sure  to  ex- 
pend much  of  our  ingenuity  and  strength  in  finding  fault  with  and  aiming 
blows  at  each  other.  But,  since  you  have  denied  me  this,  I  will  yet  be 
thankful,  for  the  country's  sake,  that  not  all  Democrats  have  done  so. 
He  on  whose  discretionary  judgment  Mr.  Vallandigham  was  arrested  and 
tried  is  a  Democrat,  having  no  old  party  affinity  with  me ;  and  the  judge 
who  rejected  the  constitutional  view  expressed  in  these  resolutions,  by 
refusing  to  discharge  Mr.  Vallandigham  on  habeas  corpus,  is  a  Democrat 
of  better  days  than  these,  having  received  his  judicial  mantle  at  the  hands 
of  President  Jackson.  And  still  more,  of  all  those  Democrats  who  are 
nobly  exposing  their  lives  and  shedding  their  blood  on  the  battle-field,  I 
have  learned  that  many  approve  the  course  taken  with  Mr.  Vallandig- 
ham, while  I  have  not  heard  of  a  single  one  condemning  it.  I  cannot 
assert  that  there  are  none  such.  And  the  name  of  Jackson  recalls  an 
incident  of  pertinent  history :  After  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  and  while 
the  fact  that  the  treaty  of  peace  had  been  concluded  was  well  known  in 
the  city,  but  before  official  knowledge  of  it  had  arrived,  General  Jackson 
etill  maintained  martial  or  military  law.  Now  that  it  could  be  said  the 
war  was  over,  the  clamor  against  martial  law,  which  had  existed  from 
the  first,  grew  more  furious.  Among  other  things,  a  Mr.  Louiallier  pub- 
lished a  denunciatory  newspaper  article.  General  Jackson  arrested  him. 
A  lawyer  by  the  name  of  Morrel  procured  the  United  States  Judge  Hall 
to  issue  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  to  relive  Mr.  J  :  jiallier.  General  Jack- 
son arrested  both  the  lawyer  and  the  judge.  A  Mr.  Hollander  ventured 
to  say  of  some  part  of  the  matter  that  "it  was  a  dirty  trick."  General 
Jackson  arrested  him.  When  the  officer  undertook  to  serve  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  General  Jackson  took  it  from  him,  and  sent  him  away 
with  a  copy.  Holding  the  judge  in  custody  a  few  days,  the  General 
eent  him  beyond  the  limits  of  his  encampment,  and  set  him  at  liberty, 
with  an  order  to  remain  till  the  ratification  of  peace  should  be  regularlj 
announced,  or  until  the  British  should  have  left  the  Southern  coast.  A 
day  or  two  more  elapsed  the  ratification  of  a  treaty  of  peace  was  regu 


State  Papbrs  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  39 

larly  announced,  and  the  judge  and  others  were  fully  liberated.  A  few- 
days  more,  and  the  judge  called  General  Jackson  into  court  and  fined  him 
$1,000  for  having  arrested  him  and  the  others  named.  The  General  paid 
the  fine,  and  there  the  matter  rested  for  nearly  thirty  years,  when  Con- 
gress refunded  principal  and  interest.  The  late  Senator  Douglas,  then  in 
the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  took  a  leading  part  in  the  debates,  in 
which  the  constitutional  question  was  much  discussed.  I  am  not  pre- 
pared to  say  whom  the  journals  would  show  to  have  voted  for  the  measure. 

It  may  be  remarked :  First,  that  we  had  the  same  Constitution  then  as 
now ;  secondly,  that  we  then  had  a  case  of  invasion,  and  now  we  have  a 
case  of  rebellion ;  and,  thirdly,  that  the  permanent  right  of  the  people  to 
public  discussion,  the  liberty  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  the  trial  by  jury, 
the  law  of  evidence,  and  the  habeas  corpus,  suffered  no  detriment  what- 
»ver  by  that  conduct  of  General  Jackson,  or  its  subsequent  approval  by 
the  American  Congress. 

And  yet,  let  me  say  that,  in  my  own  discretion,  I  do  not  know  whether 
I  would  have  ordered  the  arrest  of  Mr.  Vallandigham.  While  I  cannot 
shift  the  responsibility  from  myself,  I  hold  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the 
commander  in  the  field  is  the  better  judge  of  the  necessity  in  any  partic- 
ular case.  Of  course,  I  must  practise  a  general  directory  and  revisory 
power  in  the  matter. 

One  of  the  resolutions  expresses  the  opinion  of  the  meeting  that  arbi- 
trary arrests  will  have  the  effect  to  divide  and  distract  those  who  should 
be  united  in  suppressing  the  rebellion,  and  I  am  specifically  called  on  to 
discharge  Mr.  Vallandigham.  I  regard  this  as,  at  least,  a  fair  appeal  to 
me  on  the  expediency  of  exercising  a  constitutional  power  which  I  think 
exists.  In  response  to  such  appeal,  I  have  to  say,  it  gave  me  pain  when 
I  learned  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  had  been  arrested — that  is,  I  was  pained 
that  there  should  have  seemed  to  be  a  necessity  for  arresting  him — and 
that  it  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  discharge  him  so  soon  as  I  can,  by 
any  means,  believe  the  public  safety  will  not  suffer  by  it.  I  further  say 
that,  as  the  war  progresses,  it  appears  to  me,  opinion  and  action,  which 
were  in  great  confusion  at  first,  take  shape  and  fall  into  more  regular 
channels,  so  that  the  necessity  for  strong  dealing  with  them  gradually 
decreases  I  have  every  reason  to  desire  that  it  should  cease  altogether; 
and  far  from  the  least  is  my  regard  for  the  opinions  and  wishes  of  those 
who,  like  the  meeting  at  Albany,  declare  their  purpose  to  sustain  the 
Government  in  every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  to  suppress  the 
rebellion.  Still,  I  must  continue  to  do  so  much  as  may  seem  to  be  re- 
quired by  the  public  safety.  A.  Lincoln. 

Similar  meetings  were  held  in  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
and  other  cities  and  towns  of  the  North,  and,  on  the  11th 
of  June,  a  State  Convention  of  the  Democratic  party  waa 
held  at  CoJumhus,  Ohio,  for  the  nomination  of  State  offi- 


394  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

cers.  Mr.  Vallandigham  was,  at  that  convention,  made 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  Governor,  receiving,  on  the 
first  "ballot,  four  hundred  and  forty-eight  votes  out  of  four 
hundred  and  sixty-one,  the  whole  number  cast.  Senator 
Pugh  was  nominated  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  reso- 
lutions were  adopted  protesting  against  President  Lin- 
coln's emancipation  proclamation;  condemning  martial 
law  in  loyal'  States,  where  war  does  not  exist ;  denoun- 
cing the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  ;  protest- 
ing very  strongly  against  the  banishment  of  Vallandig 
ham,  and  calling  on  the  President  to  restore  him  to  his 
rights ;  declaring  that  they  would  hail  with  delight  the 
desire  of  the  seceded  States  to  return  to  their  allegiance, 
and  that  they  would  co-operate  with  the  citizens  of  those 
States  in  measures  for  the  restoration  of  peace. 

A  committee  of  the  convention  visited  Washington, 
and  on  the  26th  of  June  presented  to  the  President  the 
resolutions  adopted  by  the  convention,  and  urged  the 
immediate  recall  and  restoration  of  Mr.  Vallandigham, 
their  candidate  for  Governor.  To  this,  President  Lincoln 
made  the  following  reply : — 

Washington,  Jwm  29, 1868. 

Gentlemen  : — The  resolutions  of  the  Ohio  Democratic  State  Conven- 
tion, which  you  present  me,  together  with  your  introductory  and  closing 
remarks,  being  in  position  and  argument  mainly  the  same  as  the  resolu- 
tions of  the  Democratic  meeting  at  Albany,  New  York,  I  refer  you  to  my 
response  to  the  latter  as  meeting  most  of  the  points  in  the  former. 

This  response  you  evidently  used  in  preparing  your  remarks,  and  I  de 
ftire  no  more  than  that  it  be  used  with  accuracy.  In  a  single  reading  of  your 
remarks,  I  only  discovered  one  inaccuracy  in  matter  which  I  suppose  you 
took  from  that  paper.  It  is  where  you  say,  "  The  undersigned  are  unable 
to  agree  with  you  in  the  opinion  you  have  expressed  that  the  Constitu- 
tion is  different  in  time  of  insurrection  or  invasion  from  what  it  is  in  time 
of  peace  and  public  security." 

A  recurrence  to  the  paper  will  show  you  that  I  have  not  expressed 
the  opinion  you  suppose.  I  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  Constitution 
is  different  in  its  application  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  involving 
the  public  safety,  from  wnat  it  is  in  times  of  profound  peace  and  public 
security ;  and  this  opinion  I  adhere  to,  simply  because  by  the  Constitu- 
tion itself  things  may  be  do"*  »u  the  one  case  which  may  not  be  done  in 
the  other. 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  395 

I  dislike  to  waste  a  word  on  a  merely  personal  point,  bnt  I  mnst  re- 
spectfully assnre  you  that  you  will  find  yourselves  at  fault  should  you 
ever  seek  for  evidence  to  prove  your  assumption  that  I  "opposed  in 
discussions  before  the  people  the  policy  of  the  Mexican  war." 

You  say:  "Expunge  from  the  Constitution  this  limitation  upon  the 
power  of  Congress  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  yet  the 
other  guarantees  of  personal  liberty  would  remain  unchanged."  Doubt- 
less, if  this  clause  of  the  Constitution,  improperly  called,  as  I  think,  a 
imitation  upon  the  power  of  Congress,  were  expunged,  the  other  guar- 
antees would  remain  the  same ;  but  the  question  is,  not  how  those  guar- 
antees would  stand  with  that  clause  out  of  the  Constitution,  but  how  they 
stand  with  that  clause  remaining  in  it,  in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion, 
involving  the  public  safety.  If  the  liberty  could  be  indulged  in  expun- 
ging that  clause,  letter  and  spirit,  Ireally  think  the  constitutional  argu- 
ment would  be  with  you. 

My  general  view  on  this  question  was  stated  in  the  Albany  response, 
and  hence  I  do  not  state  it  now.  I  only  add  that,  as  seems  to  me,  the 
benefit  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  the  great  means  through  which 
the  guarantees  of  personal  liberty  are  conserved  and  made  available  in 
the  last  resort ;  and  corroborative  of  this  view  is  the  fact  that  Mr.  Val- 
landigham,  in  the  very  case  in  question,  under  the  advice  of  able  law 
yers,  saw  not  where  else  to  go  but  to  the  habeas  corpus.  But  by  the 
Constitution  the  benefit  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  itself  may  be  sus- 
pended, when,  in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may 
require  it. 

You  ask,  in  substance,  whether  I  really  claim  that  I  may  override  all 
the  guaranteed  rights  of  individuals,  on  the  plea  of  conserving  the  public 
safety — when  I  may  choose  to  say  the  public  safety  requires  it.  This 
question,  divested  of  the  phraseology  calculated  to  represent  mo  as 
struggling  for  an  arbitrary  personal  prerogative,  is  either  simply  a 
question  who  shall  decide,  or  an  affirmation  that  nobody  shall  decide, 
what  the  public  safety  does  require  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion. 
The  Constitution  contemplates  the  question  as  likely  to  occur  for  de- 
fbion,  but  it  does  not  expressly  declare  who  is  to  decide  it.  By  neces- 
sary implication,  when  rebellion  or  invasion  comes,  the  decision  is  to  be 
made  from  time  to  time ;  and  I  think  the  man  whom,  for  the  time,  the 
people  have,  under  the  Constitution,  made  the  commander-in-chief  of 
their  army  and  navy,  is  the  man  who  holds  the  power  and  bears  the 
responsibility  of  making  it.  If  he  uses  the  power  justly,  the  same 
people  will  probably  justify  him ;  if  he  abuses  it,  he  is  in  their  hands  to 
be  dealt  with  by  all  the  modes  they  have  reserved  to  themselves  in  the 
Constitution. 

The  earnestness  with  which  you  insist  that  persons  can  only,  in  timei 
of  rebellion,  be  lawfully  dealt  with  in  accordance  with  the  rules  for 
criminal  trials  an''  punishments  in  times  of  peace,  induces  me  to  add  * 


396  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

word  to  what  I  said  on  that  point  in  the  Albany  response.  Yon  claim 
that  men  may,  if  they  choose,  embarrass  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  com- 
bat a  giant  rebellion,  and  then  be  dealt  with  only  in  turn  as  if  there 
were  no  rebellion.  The  Constitution  itself  rejects  this  view.  The  mili- 
tary arrests  and  detentions  which  have  been  made,  including  those  of 
Air.  Vallandighani,  which  are  not  different  in  principle  from,  the  other, 
nave  been  for  prevention,  and  not  for  punishment — as  injunctions  to  stay 
mjury,  as  proceedings  to  keep  the  peace — and  hence,  like  proceedings  in 
luch  cases  and  for  like  reasons,  they  have  not  been  accompanied  with 
indictments,  or  trial  by  juries,  nor  in  a  single  case  by  any  punishment 
whatever  beyond  what  is  purely  incidental  to  the  prevention.  The 
•original  sentence  of  imprisonment  in  Mr.  Vallandigham's  case  was  to 
irevent  injury  to  the  military  service  only,  and  the  modification  of  it 
tfas  made  as  a  less  disagreeable  mode  to  him  of  securing  the  same  pre- 
tention. 

I  am  unable  to  perceive  an  insult  to  Ohio  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Vallan- 
digham.  Quite  surely  nothing  of  this  sort  was  or  is  intended.  I  waa 
wholly  unaware  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  was,  at  the  time  of  his  arrest,  a 
candidate  for  the  Democratic  nomination  of  Governor,  until  so  informed 
by  your  reading  to  me  the  resolutions  of  the  convention.  I  am  grateful 
to  the  State  of  Ohio  for  many  things,  especially  for  the  brave  soldier* 
and  officers  she  has  given  in  the  present  national  trial  to  the  armies  of 
the  Union. 

You  claim,  as  I  understand,  that  according  to  my  own  position  in  the 
Albany  response,  Mr.  Vallandigham  should  be  released;  and  this  be- 
cause, as  you  claim,  he  has  not  damaged  the  military  service  by  discour- 
aging enlistments,  encouraging  desertions,  or  otherwise;  and  that  if  ho 
had,  he  should  have  been  turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities  under  the 
recent  acts  of  Congress.  I  certainly  do  not  know  that  Mr.  Vallandigham 
has  specifically  and  by  direct  language  advised  against  enlistments  and 
in  favor  of  desertions  and  resistance  to  drafting.  We  all  know  tha 
combinations,  armed  in  some  instances,  to  resist  the  arrest  of  dese-ters, 
began  several  months  ago;  that  more  recently  the  like  has  appeared  in 
•esistance  to  the  enrolment  preparatory  to  a  draft;  and  that  quite  a 
number  of  assassinations  have  occurred  from  the  same  animus.  These 
had  to  be  met  by  military  force,  and  this  again  has  led  to  bloodshed  and 
death.  And  now,  under  a  sense  of  responsibility  more  weighty  and 
enduring  than  any  which  is  merely  official,  I  solemnly  declare  my  belief 
that  this  hindrance  of  the  military,  including  maiming  and  murder,  is  due 
to  the  cause  in  which  Mr.  Vallandigham  has  been  engaged,  in  a  greater 
degree  than  to  any  other  cause ;  and  it  is  due  to  him  personally  in  a 
greater  degree  than  to  any  other  man. 

These  things  have  been  notorious,  known  to  all,  and  of  course  known 
to  Mr.  Vallandigham.  Perhaps  I  would  not  bo  wrong  to  say  thej 
eriginated  with  his  especial  friends  and  adherents.    With  perfect  knowl 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  397 

edge  of  them,  he  has  frequently,  if  not  constantly,  made  speeches  in 
Congress  and  before  popular  assemblies ;  and  if  it  can  be  shown  that, 
with  these  things  staring  him  in  the  face,  he  has  ever  uttered  a  word  of 
rebuke  or  counsel  against  them,  it  will  be  a  fact  greatly  in  his  favo" 
with  me,  and  of  which,  as  yet,  I  am  totally  ignorant.  When  it  is  known 
that  the  whole  burden  of  his  speeches  has  been  to  stir  up  men  against  the 
prosecution  of  the  war,  and  that  in  the  midst  of  resistance  to  it  he  has 
not  been  known  in  any  instance  to  counsel  against  such  resistance,  it  is 
next  to  impossible  to  repel  the  inference  that  he  has  counselled  directly 
m  favor  of  it. 

With  all  this  before  their  eyes,  the  convention  you  represent  have 
nominated  Mr.  Vallandigham  for  Governor  of  Ohio,  and  both  they  and 
you  have  declared  the  purpose  to  sustain  the  National  Union  by  all  con- 
stitutional means;  but,  of  course,  they  and  you,  in  common,  reserve  to 
yourselves  to  decide  what  are  constitutional  means,  and,  unlike  the 
Albany  meeting,  you  omit  to  state  or  intimate  that,  in  your  opinion,  an 
army  is  a  constitutional  means  of  saving  the  Union  against  a  rebellion, 
or  even  to  intimate  that  you  are  conscious  of  an  existing  rebellion  being 
in  progress  with  the  avowed  object  of  destroying  that  very  Union.  At 
the  same  time,  your  nominee  for  Governor,  in  whose  behalf  you  appeal, 
is  known  to  you,  and  to  the  world,  to  declare  against  the  use  of  an  army 
to  suppress  the  rebellion.  Your  own  attitude,  therefore,  encourages 
desertion,  resistance  to  the  draft,  and  the  like,  because  it  teaches  those 
who  incline  to  desert  and  to  escape  the  draft  to  believe  it  is  your  pur- 
pose to  protect  them,  and  to  hope  that  you  will  become  strong  enough  to 
do  so. 

After  a  short  personal  intercourse  with  you,  gentlemen  of  the  com- 
mitted, I  cannot  say  I  think  you  desire  this  effect  to  follow  your  attitude ; 
but  I  assure  you  that  both  friends  and  enemies  of  the  Union  look  upon  it 
in  this  light.  It  is  a  substantial  hope,  and,  by  consequence,  a  real 
•trength  to  the  enemy.  If  it  is  a  false  hope,  and  one  which  you  would 
willingly  dispel,  I  will  make  the  way  exceedingly  easy.  I  send  you 
Indicates  of  this  letter,  in  order  that  you,  or  a  majority,  may,  if  yon 
choose,  indorse  your  names  upon  one  of  them,  and  return  it  thus  indorsed 
to  me,  with  the  understanding  that  those  signing  are  thereby  committed 
to  the  following  propositions,  and  to  nothing  else  :— 

1.  That  there  is  now  rebellion  in  the  United  States,  the  object  and 
tendency  of  which  is  to  destroy  the  National  Union;  and  that,  in  your 
opinion,  an  army  and  navy  are  constitutional  means  for  suppressing  that 
rebellion. 

2.  That  no  one  of  you  will  do  any  thing  which,  in  his  own  judgment, 
will  tend  to  hinder  the  increase,  or  favor  the  decrease,  or  lessen  the 
efficiency  of  the  army  and  navy,  while  engaged  in  the  effort  to  suppreaa 
that  rebellion ;  and, — 

8.  That  each  of  you  will  ;~  l»5*  sphere,  do  all  he  can  to  have  th« 


398  The  Life,  Public  Services,  a^d 

officers,  soldiers,  and  seamen  of  the  army  and  navy,  while  engaged  in  the 
effort  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  paid,  fed,  clad,  and  otherwise  well  pro- 
vided for  and  supported. 

And  with  the  further  understanding  that  upon  receiving  the  lettei 
and  names  thus  indorsed,  I  will  cause  them  to  be  published,  which 
publication  shall  be,  within  itself,  a  revocation  of  the  order  in  relation  to 
Mr.  Vallandigham. 

It  will  not  escape  observation  that  I  consent  to  the  release  of  Mr, 
Vallandigham  upon  terms  not  embracing  any  pledge  from  him  or  from 
others  as  to  what  he  will  or  will  not  do.  I  do  this  because  ho  is  not 
present  to  speak  for  himself,  or  to  authorize  others  to  speak  for  him ; 
and  hence  I  shall  expect  that  on  returning  he  would  not  put  himself 
practically  in  antagonism  with  the  position  of  his  friends.  But  I  do  ft 
chiefly  because  I  thereby  prevail  on  other  influential  gentlemen  of  Ohio 
to  so  define  their  position  as  to  be  of  immense  value  to  the  army — thus 
more  than  compensating  for  the  consequences  of  any  mistake  in  allowing 
Mr.  Vallandigham  to  return,  so  that,  on  the  whole,  the  public  safety  wili 
not  have  suffered  by  it.  Still,  in  regard  to  Mr.  \allandigham  and  all 
others,  I  must  hereafter,  as  heretofore,  do  so  mucb  91  the  public  service 
may  seem  to  require. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  respectfully  yours,  &c, 

A.  Lincoln. 

The  canvass  throughout  the  summer  was  very  animated. 
As  a  matter  of  course,  the  opponents  of  the  Administration 
in  Ohio,  as  elsewhere  throughout  the  country,  made  thi* 
matter  of  arbitrary  arrests  a  very  prominent  point  of  attack. 
Special  stress  was  laid  upon  the  fact  that,  instead  of  acting 
directly  and  upon  his  own  responsibility  in  these  cases, 
the  President  left  them  to  the  discretion  of  military  com- 
manders in  the  several  departments.  This  was  held  to  be 
in  violation  of  the  law  of  Congress  which  authorized  the 
President  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  but  not 
to  delegate  that  high  prerogative.  To  meet  this  objection, 
therefore,  and  also  in  order  to  establish  a  uniform  mode 
of  action  on  the  subject,  the  President  issued  the  following 

PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  has  ordained  that  "  The 
privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless, 
when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  roquire  it ; 
and,  whereas,  a  rebellion  was  existing  on  the  3d  day  of  March,  1863,  which 
rebellion  is  still  eveting:  and,  whereas,  by  a  statute  which  was  approved 

1 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  399 

on  that  day,  it  was  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representative! 
of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,,  that  during  the  present  in- 
surrection the  President  of  the  United  States,  whenever,  in  hip  judgment, 
the  public  safety  may  require,  is  authorized  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the 
writ  of  hibeas  corpus  in  any  case  throughout  the  United  States,  or  any 
part  thereof;  and,  whereas,  in  the  judgment  of  the  President  the  public 
safety  does  require  that  the  privilege  of  the  said  writ  shall  now  be  sus- 
pended throughout  the  United  States  in  cases  where,  by  the  authority  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  military,  naval,  and  civil  officers  of  the 
United  States,  or  any  of  them,  hold  persons  under  their  command  or  in 
their  custody,  either  as  prisoners  of  war,  spies,  or  aiders  or  abettors  of  the 
enemy,  or  officers,  soldiers,  or  seamen  enrolled,  drafted,  or  mustered,  or 
enlisted  in,  or  belonging  to  the  land  or  naval  forces  of  the  United  States, 
or  as  deserters  therefrom,  or  otherwise  amenable  to  military  law,  or  to 
the  rules  and  articles  of  war,  or  the  rules  and  regulations  prescribed  for  the 
military  or  naval  services  by  the  authority  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  or  for  resisting  the  draft,  or  for  any  other  oifence  against  the  military 
or  naval  service :  Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  do  hereby  proclaim  and  make  known  to  all  whom  it  may  con- 
cern, that  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  suspended  throughout 
the  United  States  in  the  several  cases  before  mentioned,  and  that  this  sus- 
pension will  continue  throughout  the  duration  of  the  said  rebellion,  or 
until  this  Proclamation  shall,  by  a  subsequent  one,  to  be  issued  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  be  modified  and  revoked.  And  I  do  here- 
by require  all  magistrates,  attorneys,  and  other  civil  officers  within 
the  United  States,  and  all  officers  and  others  in  the  military  and  naval 
services  of  the  United  States,  to  take  distinct  notice  of  this  suspension  and 
give  it  full  effect,  and  all  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  conduct  and 
govern  themselves  accordingly,  and  in  conformity  with  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  and  the  laws  of  Congress  in  such  cases  made  and 
provided. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the  seal 
©t  the  United  States  to  be  affixed,  this  fifteenth  day  of  September,  in  the 
f$&r  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the 

independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  eighty-eighth. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 

By  the  President : 

Wm.  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State. 

The  act  passed  by  Congress  "  for  enrolling  and  calling 
out  the  national  forces,"  commonly  called  the  Conscrip- 
tion Act,  provided  that  all  able-bodied  male  citizens,  and 
persons  of  foreign  birth  who  had  declared  their  intention 
to  become  citizens,  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  forty* 
five,  were  liable  to  be  called  into  service     The  strenuous 


400  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

efforts  made  by  the  enemies  of  the  Administration  to  arouce 
the  hostility  of  the  people  against  its  general  policy,  had 
proved  so  far  successful  as  greatly  to  discourage  volun- 
teer enlistments  ;  and  the  Government  was  thus  compelled 
to  resort  to  the  extraordinary  powers  conferred  upon  it 
by  this  act.  Questions  had  been  raised  as  to  the  liability 
of  foreigners  to  be  drafted  under  this  law ;  and  in  order 
to  settle  this  point,  the  President,  on  the  8th  of  May,  issued 
the  following  proclamation. 

Washington,  May  8,  1868. 

By  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
PROCLAMATION. 

Wliereas,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  at  its  last  session,  enacted 
a  law,  entitled  M  An  Act  for  enrolling  and  calling  ont  the  national  forces, 
and  for  other  purposes,"  which  was  approved  on  the  3d  day  of  March 
last;  and 

Whereas,  it  is  recited  in  the  said  act  that  there  now  exists  in  the  United 
States  an  insurrection  and  rebellion  against  the  authority  thereof,  and  it 
is,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  duty  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  suppress  insubordination  and  rebellion,  to  guarantee  to  each  State 
a  republican  form  of  government,  and  to  preserve  the  public  tranquillity  ; 
and 

Whereas,  for  these  high  purposes,  a  military  force  is  indispensable,  to 
raise  and  support  which  all  persons  ought  willingly  to  contribute ;  and 

Whereas,  no  service  can  be  more  praiseworthy  and  honorable  than 
that  which  is  rendered  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union,  and  the  consequent  preservation  of  free  government ;  and 

Whereas,  for  the  reasons  thus  recited  it  was  enacted  by  the  said  stat- 
ute that  all  able-bodied  male  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  persons 
of  foreign  birth  who  shall  have  declared  on  oath  their  intentions  to  become 
citizens  under  and  in  pursuance  of  the  laws  thereof,  between  the  ages  of 
twenty  and  forty-five  years,  with  certain  exemptions  not  necessary  to  be 
here  mentioned,  are  declared  to  constitute  the  National  forces,  and  shall 
be  liable  to  perform  military  duty  in  the  service  of  the  United  States, 
when  called  out  by  the  President  for  that  purpose ;  and 

Whereas,  it  is  claimed,  on  and  in  behalf  of  persons  of  foreign  birth,  with- 
in the  ages  specified  in  said  act,  who  have  heretofore  declared  on  oath  their 
intentions  to  become  citizens  under  and  in  pursuance  to  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  and  who  have  not  exercised  the  right  of  suffrage,  or  any 
other  political  franchise  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  of 
the  States  thereof,  that  they  are  not  absolutely  precluded  by  their  afore- 
•aid  declaration  of  intention  from  renouncing  their  purpose  to  become 
citizens ;  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  such  persons,  under  treaties  and  th* 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  401 

law  of  nations,  retain  a  right  to  renounce  that  purpose,  and  to  forego 
tho  privilege  of  citizenship  and  residence  within  the  United  States,  nndei 
the  obligations  imposed  by  the  aforesaid  act  of  Congress  : 

Now,  therefore,  to  avoid  all  misapprehensions  concerning  the  liability  of 
persons  concerned  to  perform  the  service  required  by  such  enactment,  and 
fr3  give  it  full  effect,  I  do  hereby  order  and  proclaim  that  no  plea  of  alien- 
ago  will  be  received,  or  allowed  to  exempt  from  the  obligations  imposed 
by  the  aforesaid  act  of  Congress  any  person  of  foreign  birth  who  shall 
have  declared  on  oath  his  intention  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  under  the  laws  thereof,  and  who  shall  be  found  within  the  United 
States  at  any  time  during  the  continuance  of  the  present  insurrection  and 
rebellion,  at  or  after  the  expiration  of  the  period  of  sixty -five  days  from  the 
date  of  this  proclamation ;  nor  shall  any  such  plea  of  alienage  be  allowed 
in  favor  of  any  such  person  who  has  so,  as  aforesaid,  declared  his  inten- 
tion to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  shall  have  exercised  at 
any  time  the  right  of  suffrage,  or  any  other  political  franchise  within  the 
United  States,  under  the  laws  thereof,  or  under  the  laws  of  any  of  the 
several  States. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  caused  the  seal 
of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  8th  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  oui 
r       ,      Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  in 
dependence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty -seventn. 

Abbaham  Lincoln. 
By  the  President : 

William  H.  Sewabd,  Secretary  of  State. 

it  was  subsequently  ordered  that  the  draft  should  take 
place  in  July,  and  public  proclamation  was  made  of  the 
number  which  each  State  would  be  required  to  furnish. 
Enrolling  officers  had  been  appointed  for  the  several  dis- 
tricts of  all  the  States,  and,  all  the  names  being  placed  in 
a  wheel,  the  number  required  were  to  be  publicly  drawn, 
under  such  regulations  as  were  considered  necessary  to 
insure  equal  and  exact  justice.  Very  great  pains  had 
been  taken  by  the  opponents  of  the  Administration  to  excite 
odium  against  that  clause  of  the  law  which  fixed  the  pice 
of  exemption  from  service  under  the  draft  at  three  hundred 
dollars.  It  was  represented  that  this  clause  was  for  the 
special  benefit  of  the  rich,  who  could  easily  pay  the  sum 
required  ;  while  poor  men  who  could  not  pay  it  would  be 
compelled,  at  whatever  hardships  to  themselves  and  their 
families,  to  enter  the  army.  The  draft  was  commenced  in 
26 


402  The  Life,  Public  Services,  and 

the  City  of  New  York  on  Saturday,  July  11th,  and  was 
conducted  quietly  and  successfully  during  that  day.  Od 
Sunday  plots  were  formed  and  combinations  entered  into 
to  resist  it ;  and  no  sooner  was  it  resumed  on  Monday 
morning,  July  13,  than  a  sudden  and  formidable  attack 
was  made  by  an  armed  mob  upon  the  office  in  one  of  the 
districts ;  the  wheel  was  destroyed,  the  lists  scattered,  and 
the  building  set  on  fire.  The  excitement  spread  through 
the  city.  Crowds  gathered  everywhere,  with  no  apparent 
common  object ;  but  during  the  day  the  movement  seem- 
ed to  be  controlled  by  leaders  in  two  general  directions. 
The  first  was  an  attack  upon  the  negroes ;  the  second  an 
assault  upon  every  one  who  was  supposed  to  be  in  any 
way  concerned  in  the  draft,  or  prominently  identified, 
officially  or  otherwise,  with  the  Administration  or  the  Re- 
publican party.  Unfortunately,  the  militia  regiments  of 
the  city  had  been  sent  to  Pennsylvania  to  withstand  the 
rebel  invasion  ;  and  the  only  guardians  left  for  the  public 
peace  were  the  regular  police  and  a  few  hundred  soldiers 
who  garrisoned  the  forts.  Both  behaved  with  the  greatest 
vigor  and  fidelity,  but  they  were  too  few  to  protect  the 
dozen  miles  between  the  extremities  of  the  city.  The  mob, 
dispersed  in  one  quarter,  would  reassemble  at  another, 
and  for  four  days  the  city  seemed  given  up  to  their  control. 
The  outrages  committed  during  this  time  were  numerous 
and  aggravated.  Negroes  were  assaulted,  beaten  to  death, 
mutilated,  and  hung  ;  building  after  building  was  sacked 
and  burned ;  gangs  of  desperadoes  patrolled  the  streets, 
levying  contributions,  and  ordering  places  of  business  to 
be  closed.  A  Colored  Orphan  Asylum,  sheltering  some 
hundreds  of  children,  was  sacked  and  burned.  After 
the  first  day,  the  riot,  which  was  at  first  directed  against 
the  draft,  took  a  new  turn.  The  entire  mass  of  scoundrel- 
ism  in  the  city  seemed  to  have  been  let  loose  for  indis 
criminate  plunder.  Women,  half-grown  boys,  and  chil- 
dren, were  foremost  in  the  work  of  robbery,  and  no  man 
felt  safe  from  attack.  The  police  force  did  their  duty 
manfully,  aided  at  first  by  the  few  troops  at  the  disposal 
of  the  authorities,  and  subsequently  by  the  regiments  who 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  403 

began  to  return  from  Pennsylvania.  In  the  street-fights 
which  occurred,  many  of  the  defenders  of  law  and  order 
lost  their  lives,  while  a  far  larger  number  of  the  rioters 
were  killed.  The  bands  of  rioters  were  finally  dispersed, 
and  the  pes.ce  of  the  city  was  restored. 

During  these  occurrences  the  draft  was  necessarily  sus- 
pended; and  on  the  3d  of  August,  Governor  Seymour 
addressed  a  long  letter  to  the  President,  asking  that  fur- 
ther proceedings  under  the  draft  might  be  postponed  until 
it  should  be  seen  whether  the  number  required  from  the 
State  of  New  York  could  not  be  raised  by  volunteering, 
and  also  until  the  constitutionality  of  the  law  could  be 
tested  in  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the  country.  The 
Governor  pointed  out  an  alleged  injustice  in  the  applica- 
tion of  the  law,  by  which,  in  four  districts  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  a  far  higher  quota  in  proportion  to  the  popu- 
lation was  required  than  in  the  other  districts  of  the  State ; 
and  this  was  urged  as  an  additional  reason  for  postponing 
the  further  execution  of  the  law. 

To  this  appeal  the  President,  on  the  7th  of  August, 
made  the  following  reply : — 

ExaouTiTB  Mahsiok,  W ashikgtok,  August  T,  18«. 

His  Excellency  Horatio  Seymour, 

Governor  of  New  York,  Albany,  N.  Y. : 

Your  communication  of  the  3d  inst.  has  been  received  and  attentively 
considered.  I  cannot  consent  to  suspend  the  draft  in  New  York,  as  you 
request,  because,  among  other  reasons,  timk  is  too  important.  By  the 
figures  you  send,  which  I  presume  are  correct,  the  twelve  districts  repre- 
sented fall  in  two  classes  of  eight  and  four  respectively. 

The  disparity  of  the  quotas  for  the  draft  in  these  two  classes  is  certainly 
very  striking,  being  the  difference  between  an  average  of  2,200  in  one 
class,  anc  4,864  in  the  other.  Assuming  that  the  districts  are  equal,  one 
to  another,  in  entire  population,  as  required  by  the  plan  on  which  they 
were  made,  this  disparity  is  6uch  as  to  require  attention.  Much  of  it, 
however,  I  suppose  will  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  so  many  more 
persons  fit  for  soldiers  are  in  the  city  than  are  in  the  country,  who  have 
too  recently  arrived  from  other  parts  of  the  United  States  and  from  Europe 
to  be  either  included  in  the  census  of  I860,  or  to  have  voted  in  1862. 
Still,  making  due  allowance  for  this,  I  am  yet  unwilling  to  stand  upon  it 
at  aa  entirely  sufficient  explanation  of  the  great  disparity.     I  shall  direei 


404  The  Lite,  Public  Services,  and 

the  draft  to  proceed  in  all  the  districts,  drawing,  however,  at  first  from 
each  of  the  four  districts — to  wit,  the  Second,  Fourth,  Sixth,  and  Eighth — 
only,  2,200  being  the  average  quota  of  the  other  class.  After  this  drawing, 
these  four  districts,  and  also  the  Seventeenth  and  Twenty-ninth,  shall  be 
carefully  re-enrolled;  and,  if  you  please,  agents  of  yours  may  witnesi 
every  step  of  the  process.  Any  deficiency  which  may  appear  by  the  new 
enrolment  will  be  supplied  by  a  special  draft  for  that  object,  allowing  due 
credit  for  volunteers  who  may  be  obtained  from  these  districts  respectively 
during  the  interval ;  and  at  all  points,  so  far  as  consistent  with  practical 
convenience,  due  credits  shall  be  given  for  volunteers,  and  your  Exce*- 
lenoy  shall  be  notified  of  the  time  fixed  for  commencing  a  draft  in  each 
district. 

I  do  not  object  to  abide  a  decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Oourt, 
or  of  the  Judges  thereof,  on  the  constitutionality  of  the  draft  law.  In 
fact,  I  should  be  willing  to  facilitate  the  obtaining  of  it.  But  I  cannot 
consent  to  lose  the  time  while  it  is  being  obtained.  We  are  contending 
with  an  enemy  who,  as  I  understand,  drives  every  able-bodied  man  he 
can  reach  into  his  ranks,  very  much  as  a  butcher  drives  bullocks  into  a 
slaughter-pen.  No  time  is  wasted,  no  argument  is  used.  This  produces 
an  army  which  will  soon  turn  upon  our  now  victorious  soldiers  already  in 
the  field,  if  they  shall  not  be  sustained  by  recruits  as  they  should  bo.  It 
produces  an  army  with  a  rapidity  not  to  be  matched  on  our  side,  if  we  first 
waste  time  to  re-experiment  with  the  volunteer  system,  already  deemed 
by  Congress,  and  palpably,  in  fact,  so  far  exhausted  as  to  be  inadequate ; 
and  then  more  time  to  obtain  a  Oourt  decision  as  to  whether  a  law  is  con- 
stitutional which  requires  a  part  of  those  not  now  in  the  service  to  go  to 
the  aid  of  those  who  are  already  in  it ;  and  still  more  time  to  determine 
with  absolute  certainty  that  we  get  those  who  are  to  go  in  the  precisely 
legal  proportion  to  those  who  are  not  to  go.  My  purpose  is  to  be  in  my 
action  just  and  constitutional,  and  yet  practical,  in  performing  the  impor- 
tant duty  with  which  I  am  charged,  of  maintaining  the  unity  and  the  free 
principles  of  our  common  country. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  Lincoln. 

On  the  8th  Governor  Seymour  replied,  reasserting  the 
unfairness  and  injustice  of  the  enrolments,  and  expressing 
his  regret  at  the  President's  refusal  to  postpone  the  draft 
He  also  sent  a  voluminous  statement,  prepared  by  Judge- 
Advocate  Waterbury,  designed  to  sustain  the  position  he 
had  previously  assumed.  To  this  the  President  thus  re 
Dlied : — 


State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  405 


ExKommt  Mansion,  Washington,  August  11  18tt 

fill  Excellenoy  Hobatio  Seymour, 

Governor  of  New  York: 

Yours  of  the  8th,  with  Judge- Advocate  General  Waterbury's  report, 
was  received  to-day. 

Asking  you  to  remember  that  I  consider  time  as  being  very  important 
both  to  the  general  cause  of  the  country  and  to  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  I 
beg  to  remind  you  that  I  waited,  at  your  request,  from  the  1st  until  the 
6th  inst.,  to  receive  your  communication  dated  the  3d.  In  view  of  itt 
great  length,  and  the  known  time  and  apparent  care  taken  in  its  prepara- 
tion, I  did  not  doubt  that  it  contained  your  full  case  as  you  desired  to 
present  it,  It  contained  the  figures  for  twelve  districts,  omitting  the 
other  nineteen,  as  I  suppose,  because  you  found  nothing  to  complain  of  as 
to  them.  I  answered  accordingly.  In  doing  so  I  laid  down  the  principle 
to  which  I  purpose  adhering,  which  is  to  proceed  with  the  draft,  at  the 
same  time  employing  infallible  means  to  avoid  any  great  wrong.  With 
the  communication  received  to-day  you  send  figures  for  twenty-eight  dis- 
tricts, including  the  twelve  sent  before,  and  still  omitting  three,  for  which 
I  suppose  the  enrolments  are  not  yet  received.  In  looking  over  the  fuller 
list  of  twenty-eight  districts,  I  find  that  the  quotas  for  sixteen  of  them  are 
above  2,000  and  below  2,700,  while,  of  the  rest,  six  are  above  2,700  and 
six  are  below  2,000.  Applying  the  principle  to  these  new  facts,  the  Fifth 
and  Seventh  Districts  must  be  added  to  the  four  in  which  the  quotas  have 
already  been  reduced  to  2,200  for  the  first  draft;  and  with  these  four 
others  must  be  added  to  those  to  be  re-enrolled.  The  correct  case  will 
then  stand :  the  quotas  of  the  Second,  Fourth,  Fifth,  Sixth,  Seventh,  and 
Eighth  Districts  fixed  at  2,200  for  the  first  draft.  The  Provost-Marshal 
General  informs  me  that  the  drawing  is  already  completed  in  the  Six 
teenth,  Seventeenth,  Eighteenth,  Twenty-second,  Twenty-fourth,  Twenty- 
sixth,  Twenty-seventh,  Twenty-eighth,  Twenty-ninth,  and  Thirtieth  Dis- 
tricts. In  the  others,  except  the  three  outstanding,  the  drawing  will  be 
made  upon  the  quotas  as  now  fixed.  After  the  first  draft,  the  Second, 
Fourth,  Fifth,  Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Sixteenth,  Seventeenth,  Twenty- 
first,  Twenty-fifth,  Twenty-ninth,  and  Thirty- first  will  be  enrolled  for  the 
purpose,  and  in  the  manner  stated  in  my  letter  of  the  7th  inst.  The  same 
principle  will  be  applied  to  the  now  outstanding  districts  when  they  shall 
come  in.  No  part  of  my  former  letter  is  repudiated  by  reason  of  not 
being  restated  in  this,  or  for  any  other  cause. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  Lincoln. 

The  draft  in  New  York  was  resumed  on  the  19th  of  Au- 

as  ample  preparations  had  been  made  for  the 

of  the  public  peace,  it  encountered  no  further 


406  The  Life,  Public  Services,  aud 

opposition.  In  every  other  part  of  the  country  the  pro 
ceedings  were  conducted  and  completed  without  resist 
aDce. 

Some  difficulty  was  experienced  in  Chicago,  and  the 
Mayor  and  Comptroller  of  that  city  addressed  the  Presi 
dent  on  the  subject  of  alleged  frauds  in  the  enrolment, 
and  received  the  following  dispatch  in  reply : — 

Washington,  Augutt  27, 1861. 
F.  0.  Sheeman,  Mayor ;  J.  S.  Hays,  Comptroller : 

Yours  of  the  24th,  in  relation  to  the  draft,  is  received.  It  seems  to  mi 
the  Government  here  will  be  overwhelmed  if  it  undertakes  to  conduct 
these  matters  with  the  authorities  of  cities  and  counties.  They  must  be 
conducted  with  the  Governors  of  States,  who  will,  of  course,  represent 
their  cities  and  counties.  Meanwhile,  you  need  not  be  uneasy  until  yon 
again  hear  from  here.  A.  Lincoln. 

Subsequently,  in  reply  to  further  representations  on  the 
subject,  the  same  gentlemen  received  the  following  : — 

Washington,  September  7, 1868. 
Yours  of  August  29th  just  received.  I  suppose  it  was  intended  by  Con- 
gress that  this  Government  should  execute  the  act  in  question  without 
dependence  upon  any  other  Government,  State,  City,  or  County.  It  ia, 
however,  within  the  range  of  practical  convenieEce  to  confer  with  the 
Governments  of  States,  while  it  is  quite  beyond  that  range  to  have  co\  • 
respondence  on  the  subject  with  counties  and  cities.  They  are  too  nu- 
merous. As  instances,  I  have  corresponded  with  Governor  Seymour,  but 
mot  with  Mayor  Opdykt;  with  Governor  Ourtin,  but  not  with  Mayo' 
Henry,  „  A.  Ijnoolm. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 

12Mar'58FFr 

*EC'D  LD 

l"t»271958 

General  Library 
LD  21A-50m-8,'57                                 University  of  California 
(C8481sl0)476B                                                  Berkeley 

